Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/fiftyyearsofassoOOwilsrich 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION 

WORK  AMONG  YOUNG  WOMEN 

1866—1916 


A  History  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations in  the  United  States  of  America 


BY 
ELIZABETH  WILSON 

Executive  of  the  Secretarial  Department 
of  the  National  Board 


National  Board 

of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 

of  the  United  States  of  America 

600  Lexington  Avenue 

New  York 


Copyright,  January,  1916.  by 

National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associationa 

of  the  United  States  of  America 


DEDICATED 

TO  THE  WOMEN  AND  GIRLS  WHO  IN  ANY  PLACE 

AND  IN  ANY  TIME  HAVE  COMBINED  THEIR 

EFFORTS  TO  BRING  IN  THE  KINGDOM 

OF  GOD  AMONG  YOUNG  WOMEN 


331109 


PREFACE 

The  purpose  of  this  historical  account  is  to  show 
why  and  how  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
came  into  being  and  to  indicate  that  the  first  half  cen- 
tury is  but  the  beginning  of  the  movement. 

In  order  to  represent  the  conditions  which  called 
out  certain  features,  the  language  of  old  reports,  cir- 
culars, addresses  and  correspondence  has  been  freely 
used;  while  there  has  been  a  wealth  of  these  original 
sources,  in  some  instances  it  is  undated,  or  annual 
and  biennial  reports  have  not  stated  the  calendar 
month  or  year  in  which  a  measure  was  passed  or  new 
ventures  undertaken.  Some  of  the  attempts  to  deter- 
mine these  dates  through  comparison  of  material  will 
probably  prove  faulty.  I  wish  to  thank  all  the  friends 
who  have  assisted  in  collecting  and  comparing  data 
and  who  have  described  historic  work  in  which  they 
had  a  part. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  mention  as  many  individ- 
ual Associations  as  might  have  been  desired.  Em- 
phasis has  been  laid  on  the  recognition  of  unusual 
needs  and  the  invention  of  successful  means  of  meet- 
ing them  and  upon  the  development  of  phases  of  work 
rather  than  upon  the  consecutive  events  in  given  lo- 
calities. 

Elizabeth  Wilson. 

New  York  City,  1916. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PART  I--BEFORE  1866 

PRELIMINARY  ORGANIZATIONS  IN  GREAT 
BRITAIN  AND  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    Introduction 3 

Status  of  young  women  in  the  United  States 
before  the  Christian  Association.  Their  work 
in  relation  to  the  home.     Higher  education. 

H  United  Prayer  in  the  United  Kingdom  .  .  7 
George  Williams  and  the  Association  idea 
(1844).  Miss  Robarta  and  other  early  mem- 
bers (1855).  Prayer  Union  Branches  (1859). 
First  use  of  the  name  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association. 

III  An  Open  Door  in  London 13 

Women's  occupations  in  Great  Britain  (1851). 
The  Knight  of  W^omanhood,  Lord  Shaftesbury. 
The  Nurses'  Home.  The  Honorable  Mrs.  Kin- 
naird  and  the  North  London  Home  (1855). 
The  Pall  Mall  Institute  (1861). 

IV  Federation  Looking  Toward  the  Future  .     .     19 

The  Prayer  Union  and  the  Home  and  Insti- 
tute Branch  united  (1877).  The  United  Cen- 
tral Council  (1884)  leading  to  founding  of 
the  World's  Association  (1894). 

iV    The  Beginnings  in  America 22 

The  American  Revival  of  Religion  in  1857-58. 
Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Roberts  and  the  New  York 
ladies  (1858).  The  first  factory  meeting. 
The  first  boarding  home  (1860). 


CONTENTS 

OHAPTBB  PAQB 

International  Board  Conference  and  American 
Committee  special  convention.  Applications 
for  charter  membership.  Organization  Con- 
vention and  election  of  National  Board  (De- 
cember, 1906). 


PART  III— 1906  TO  1916 

THE  YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIA- 
TIONS OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA 

XVII  The  Present  National  Movement  ....  233 
Adoption  of  policies.  Development  of  depart- 
ments: Office;  Publication;  Field  Work;  Fi- 
nance; Conventions  and  Conferences;  Secre- 
tarial Training;  Home  and  Foreign.  St.  Paul 
Convention  ( 1909 ) .  Adoption  of  constitution. 
The  Portland  definition  of  evangelical 
churches.     The  Federal  Council  of  Churches. 

XVIII    The  Young  Women  of  the  Christian  Asso- 
ciations    260 

Zirkus  Busch  gathering  at  Berlin  World's 
Conference  (1910).  Emphasis  on  membership 
at  Indianapolis  (1911)  and  Richmond  Con- 
vention ( 1913).  National  Headquarters.  San 
Francisco  Exposition, 

XIX    The  Students 269 

State  universities  and  other  groups.  The 
Studio  Club;  Central  Club  for  Nurses.  Negro 
and  Indian  students.  Student  activities,  re- 
ligious campaigns,  voluntary  Bible  study,  so- 
cial service,  student  initiative  and  coopera- 
tion. North  American  Student  Council.  Com- 
mission on  Restatement  of  Basis.  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation  Conference, 
Lake  Mohonk  (1913).  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  Convention,  Kansas  City  (1913). 

XX    The  City  Girls 281 

Membership,  not  buildings.  Forms  of  coop- 
eration.     Building    campaigns.      Community 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAQE 

service.  Activities  inside  and  outside  the 
building.     Summer  programs. 

XXI    The  Giels  in  Industry 289 

Statement  of  field.  Industrial  clubs  and  As- 
sociations. Federations  of  industrial  clubs. 
Club  Councils  at  conferences  and  camps. 

XXII    The   Country   Girls 292 

County  Associations  in  Illinois  and  elsewhere. 
Eight  Week  Clubs.  The  county  summer  con- 
ference. 

XXIII  The  Young  Girls 297 

First  branches;  their  laggard  development. 
Study  of  adolescence.  Camp  Fire  Girls' 
Council. 

XXIV  The  Strangers  Within   Our  Gates     ...  300 

English  classes  for  foreigners.  International 
Institutes, 

XXV    Girls  in  Other  Countries 303 

Recapitulation  of  openings  in  India.  Ameri- 
can work  in  China  and  Japan,  South  America 
and  Turkey.  Foreign  students  in  the  United 
States.  American  secretaries  abroad.  Con- 
trasts in  World's  Conferences   (1898-1914). 

XXVI    The  Secretaries 316 

Origin  of  name.  Scope  and  remuneration  of 
office.  Association  of  Employed  Officers.  Sys- 
tem of  training. 

XXVII    A  Prophet  Among  Women 326 

Miss  Dodge  as  president.  Her  colleagues  and 
successors. 

XXVIII    Mottoes  and  Spirit 330 

Zech.  iv,  6 — Prayer  Union,  American  Commit- 
tee, World's  Committee.  Gal.  v,  13— British 
Associates,  International  Board.  John  iv,  10 
— Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of 
the  United  States  of  America. 

Appendix 335 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPPOSITB 

PAGE 

The  Auditorium,  Asilomar  Conference  Grounds,  California  248 
Michi  Kawai,   Secretary   of  the  National   Committee  of 

Japan 262 

Delegates  to  the  Fourth  Biennial  Convention,  Richmond, 

Virginia,    1913 264 

Headquarters    Building    of    the    National    Board    of    the 

Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  ....  266 
Young    Women's    Christian    Association,    St.    Louis,    Mo. 

Modern  type  of  administration  building  ....  282 
Mary  A.  Clark  Memorial  Home,  Los  Angeles,  California  .  284 
Eastern  City  Conference,  Silver  Bay,  New  York,  1915  .  .  288 
First  County  Conference,  Conference  Point,  Lake  Geneva, 

Wisconsin 294 

Ying  Mei   Chun,  directing  gymnastic  drill  in  Shanghai, 

China        308 

Clarissa   H.   Spencer,  General   Secretary  of   the  World's 

Committee 314 

Mabel  Cratty,  General  Secretary  of  the  National  Board     .  322 

Class  of  1915,  National  Training  School 324 

Letter  sent  by  Miss  Dodge  to  all  the  National  Board  staff  326 


PART  I.    BEFORE  1866 

PRELIMINARY    ORGANIZATIONS    IN    GREAT 
BRITAIN  AND  AMERICA 


FIFTY  YEARS   OF  ASSOCIATION 
WORK  AMONG  YOUNG  WOMEN 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

FIFTY  years  ago  woman 's  work  was  in  the  home. 
And  such  faculty  for  organization  had  the  mis- 
tress of  the  home  that  she  could  order  the  tasks 
of  each  season  and  of  each  day  of  the  week,  could 
a^ign  suitable  duties  to  the  elder  and  younger  daugh- 
ter^, and  teach  them  the  varied  processes  until  they 
became  in  turn  as  proficient  as  she. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  three 
chief  occupations  for  women,  ** gainful  occupations" 
they  were  termed,  in  spite  of  the  meager  remuneration 
for  each,  were:  domestic  service,  where  an  American 
born  girl  helped  in  another  person's  home;  teaching 
school,  where  the  teacher  boarded  around  from  house 
to  house  in  many  country  districts ;  and  sewing,  where 
the  seamstress  usually  came  to  the  house  of  her  em- 
ployer for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  or  in  the  case  of 
well  to  do  families  was  a  regular  member  of  the  house- 
hold staff. 

Even  outside  employments  such  as  working  in  cot- 
ton mills  were  under  a  semi-domestic  regime.    The 

3 


4      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

corporations  owned  boarding  houses  for  the  women 
operatives,  and  established  in  each  a  matron,  usually 
a  widow  with  daughters  in  the  mill.  There  was  little 
financial  risk  in  conducting  this  sort  of  an  establish- 
ment, for  the  mill  corporation  deducted  the  weekly- 
board  rate  from  the  wages  of  each  employee  and  paid 
the  amount  directly  to  the  landlady.  Such  was  the 
position  held  by  Lucy  Larcom's  mother  in  Lowell, 
which  fact  accounted  for  the  eleven  year  old  child 
going  into  the  mill. 

The  hours  of  labor  ran,  or  dragged,  from  five  in  the 
morning  to  seven  in  the  evening,  which  tallied  with 
domestic  rather  than  business  working  time.  The  very 
church  attendance  was  likewise  regulated  in  paternal 
fashion,  for  the  mill  directors  charged  up  *'pew  rent" 
to  each  employee,  under  their  system  of  paying  wages 
partly  in  commodities. 

Millwork  dovetailed  also  into  the  public  school  sys- 
tem, because  in  those  early  years,  teaching  was  for 
many  mill  hands  a  '*by  employment"  for  the  few 
months  in  the  year  when  *' school  kept." 

When  the  weaving  and  spinning  went  out  of  the 
house,  and  the  weavers  and  spinners  followed  on  into 
the  mills,  there  was  still  a  link  between  factory  and 
home  in  the  hand  processes  of  manufacture  carried  on 
in  the  family  living  rooms.  There  is  an  economic 
basis  of  fact  as  well  as  poetic  fancy  in  the  verses  con- 
taining, *' Hannah's  at  the  window  binding  shoes." 

If  the  situation  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  with  few  girls  away  from  home,  and  a  limited 
range  of  occupations  open  to  women,  did  not  seem 


INTRODUCTION  5 

such  as  to  require  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  As- 
sociation work  in  cities,  neither  were  women  college 
students  feeling  the  need  of  voluntary  religious  organi- 
zations. Most  of  the  seminaries  and  colleges  to  which 
women  were  admitted  were  built  on  Christian  founda- 
tions by  the  prayers  and  labors  and  sacrifices  of  godly 
men  and  women,  and  consecrated  to  the  **  Christian 
nurture  of  youth/'  Such  was  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary, 
where  Mary  Lyon  saw  visions  come  true  from  1837  to 
1849.  Such  was  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  later 
College,  where  the  influence  of  Charles  G.  Finney  was 
felt  from  1835  to  1875.  Here  in  1841  three  young 
ladies  graduated  from  the  regular  four  years'  college 
course,  **the  first  young  women  in  the  country  to  re- 
ceive a  degree  in  the  arts.'' 

The  personal  piety  of  such  students  and  their  mis- 
sionary service  here  or  abroad  after  graduation,  were 
accepted  as  a  matter  of  course,  by  those  who  arranged 
the  curriculum,  prescribed  the  use  of  week  days  and 
Sundays  and  rejoiced  that  the  students  received  in- 
spiration as  well  as  training  to  carry  out  the  college 
ideals. 

Women  had  not  yet  learned  to  work  together  in  a 
large  way.  They  were  achieving,  but  by  acting  as  in- 
dividual forces,  not  as  social  elements.  Like  Lucy 
Larcom,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  and  Louisa  May  Al- 
cott,  they  were  writing ;  like  Maria  White  Lowell  they 
were  stirring  others  to  write ;  or  like  Ann  Greene  Phil- 
lips they  were  heartening  others  to  efforts  on  behalf 
of  oppressed  humanity.  Women  came  together  within 
parish  circles,  for  ladies'  prayer  meetings  and  ** Dorcas 


6      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Societies"  which  made  coats  and  garments  and  did 
other  good  works  and  alms  deeds,  but  these  were  al- 
most entirely  local  activities.  Even  the  **  Female 
Cent''  societies  did  not  burgeon  into  any  general  for- 
eign missionary  society  until  1861,  when  the  Women's 
Union  Missionary  Society  of  America  for  Heathen 
Lands  came  into  being. 

What  changed  these  conditions?  Many  things; 
among  them  stand  out  three  totally  unlike  factors :  the 
invention  of  the  sewing  machine  in  1846 ;  the  great  re- 
vival of  1857-1858 ;  and  the  Civil  War,  from  1861  to 
1865. 


CHAPTER  II 

UNITED  PRAYER  IN  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM 

IN  England  the  early  Victorian  situation  was  not 
unlike  that  in  America  at  this  same  time.  Some 
noted  achievements  there  were,  due  to  the  fact 
of  the  long  established  civilization,  but  on  the  other 
hand  some  social  delays  were  occasioned  by  the  con- 
servatism of  that  very  same  settled  order  of  things. 
There  is,  thereby,  all  the  more  credit  to  those  who  had 
faith  enough  to  regard  these  mountains  as  removable, 
wisdom  enough  to  know  where  to  begin,  and  grace 
enough  to  associate  themselves  with  many  others  in 
accomplishing  their  original  purpose  or  that  larger 
purpose  that  is  sure  to  develop  when  like-minded  peo- 
ple cooperate. 

One  such  pioneer  was  George  Williams,  who  came 
up  to  London  from  the  provinces  in  the  fall  of  1841. 
That  was  a  noteworthy  year  in  religious  history,  for 
the  Oxford  Movement  was  at  its  height ;  but  the  young 
draper  ^s  assistant  found  his  religious  reading  not  in 
the  polemic  pamphlets  of  the  Tractarian  leaders,  but 
in  two  of  Charles  G.  Finney  ^s  books,  **  Letters  to  Pro- 
fessing Christians,"  and  ** Lectures  on  Revivals." 
His  place  of  employment,  Hitchcock  and  Rogers,  in 
St.  PauPs  Churchyard,  was  of  the  usual  type  of  **liv- 

7 


8     FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ing  in"  drapery  establishments,  with  dormitories  on 
the  top  floor  for  assistants  and  apprentices.  These 
young  fellows  worked  off  what  spirits  were  left  after 
their  day  of  fourteen  to  seventeen  hours  behind  the 
counter,  in  a  way  that  left  much  to  be  desired.  None 
of  George  Williams'  five  roommates  professed  him- 
self a  Christian,  but  we  are  told  that  there  was  a 
Christian  fellow  in  the  adjoining  inner  bedroom  who 
had  only  four  roommates,  whom  he  got  to  leave  so 
that  the  two  like-minded  souls  might  have  a  place  of 
prayer.  Soon  others  joined  them ;  they  read  together 
the  Finney  books,  many  were  converted,  larger  rooms 
were  used.  Then  they  interested  the  head  of  the  firm, 
who  provided  a  chaplain  to  conduct  daily  prayers. 
Life  at  Hitchcock  and  Rogers  was  changed.  Young 
men  in  other  shops  also  put  these  ideas  into  operation. 
Finally,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  as  a  beginning  of 
the  story,  on  June  6,  1844,  twelve  young  men  from 
four  different  church  connections  formed  a  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  with  religious  and  social 
features,  rented  rooms,  and  engaged  a  salaried  organiz- 
ing secretary  and  missionary  to  administer  and  extend 
the  work. 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  Association  idea,  that  is, 
young  men  and  young  women  uniting  from  different 
Christian  churches  for  higher  all-round  development 
and  service  and  using  both  religious  and  secular  means 
therefor.  The  new  movement  was  so  timely  and  its 
emphasis  so  distinct  that  leading  clergy  and  laymen 
gave  their  assistance. 

His   biographer   found    among    George   Williams' 


UNITED  PRAYER  9 

papers  a  circular  formulating  a  scheme  for  a  Young 
Ladies*  Christian  Association  which  seems  to  have 
been  sent  out  by  him  in  the  '40s.  But  the  time  for 
such  an  appeal  to  be  listened  to  was  not  yet  come. 
In  the  next  decade  the  Crimean  War  set  in  motion 
waves  which  permanently  affected  the  thought  and  the 
work  of  British  womenkind — girls,  young  women, 
ladies,  and  ladies  of  title,  in  country  and  in  city,  down 
in  the  provinces  and  up  in  London. 

Bamet  stands  in  English  history  as  a  battle  field  in 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses;  in  Association  history  it  ap- 
pears as  the  residence  of  the  Robarts  and  the  Penne- 
father  families.  Rev.  William  Pennefather,  vicar  of 
Christ  Church,  known  as  the  founder  of  the  Inter- 
denominational Christian  Conference  and  the  Mild- 
may  deaconess  house  and  many  similar  institutions, 
had  been  given  spiritual  charge  of  hundreds  of  the 
orphans  of  the  Crimean  War,  who  had  been  gathered 
together  by  the  Patriotic  Fund  workers;  and  Mrs. 
Pennefather  was  deeply  interested  in  them  also.  The 
Robarts  family  included  five  unmarried  sisters,  de- 
voted to  works  of  charity  and  education.  Besides  the 
infant  school  which  their  father  had  built  and  placed 
under  trustees  the  daughters  supported  a  school  for 
girls  held  on  their  own  estate.  Many  years  before 
Tennyson  had  said,  through  King  Arthur,  **more 
things  are  wrought  by  prayer  than  the  world  dreams 
of,''  Emma  Robarts,  the  youngest  sister,  was  roused 
by  such  a  realization  of  the  vast  possibilities  of  prayer, 
that  she  asked  some  of  her  friends  in  1855  to  pray  on 
Saturday  evenings  for  young  women,  either  for  those 


10      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

in  their  own  circle  or  for  young  women  as  a  class. 
*'What  can  we  do  for  them/'  she  wrote,  **how  reach 
and  act  on  them,  scattered  as  they  are  in  every  sphere 
of  life  ?  Look  at  the  young  women  of  our  day  and  re- 
member their  number,  their  present  and  future  in- 
fluence.   Look  at  the  several  divisions  of  the  class : 

1.  Our  Princesses  and  all  who  are  in  the  glitter  of  fash- 

ionable life 

2.  Daughters  at  home  of  the  middle  classes 

3.  Young  wives  and  mothers 

4.  Governesses  in  families  and  teachers  in  Day  and  Sun- 

day Schools 

5.  Shop  women,  Dressmakers,  Milliners  and  Seamstresses 

6.  Domestic  Servants 

7.  Factory  Girls 

8.  Young  Women  in  our  Unions,  Hospitals,  and  Reforma- 

tories, the  Criminal  and  the  Fallen 

9.  Those    who    are   enchained    by    Judaism,    Popery    and 

heathenism 

**What  can  be  done  for  them?  What  means  can  be 
used  to  win  their  souls  to  Christ?"  As  her  friends, 
assenting  to  this  request,  sent  in  their  names,  she 
copied  these  in  a  list. 

Heading  the  first  list  of  twenty-three  names  in  this 
Prayer  Union  is  that  of  Mrs.  Horatius  Bonar  of  Kelso, 
Scotland.  Each  member  notes  her  religious  activities 
and  Mrs.  Bonar 's  record  is,  **  District  and  workhouse 
visiting ;  class  of  girls  on  Monday  at  5  p.  m.  for  Scrip- 
ture Instruction;  Maternal  meeting  every  fortnight; 
meeting  in  another  district  for  Mothers  every  alter- 
nate Tuesday  at  3.*'  Seven  other  Scotch  names  fol- 
low, then  Mrs.  Pennefather's  and  Miss  Robarts*  own 


Miss  Emma  Kobarts, 

Founder    of    the    Prayer    Union    Branch    in 

Great    Britain 


UNITED  PRAYER  11 

names.  Their  reports  credit  Mrs.  Pennefather  with 
**Parish  and  workhouse  visiting,  Superintendence  of 
Patriotic  Orphan  Homes,  and  of  Homes  in  connection 
with  Society  for  the  Rescue  of  Young  Women,  Scrip- 
ture Class  every  Thursday  for  young  ladies,*'  and 
show  Miss  Robarts'  work  to  be,  ''Sunday  morning 
class  of  servants  and  dressmakers,  Intercourse  and  cor- 
respondence with  former  scholars.''  Several  of  the 
early  members  lived  in  Ireland.  A  Bradford,  Eng- 
land, member  reports  a  class  of  "adult  factory  girls." 
Classes  for  "apprentices,"  "grown  girls,"  "shop 
girls, "  "  milk  girls, ' '  appear.  George  Miiller  's  daugh- 
ter belonged,  and  Frances  Ridley  Havergal,  who  wrote 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  hymn, 
"True  Hearted,  Whole  Hearted." 

"In  the  course  of  1859  the  first  Branch  was 
formed,"  wrote  Miss  Robarts;  "a  band  of  Christian 
girls  uniting  in  the  name  of  Jesus  for  their  mutual 
benefit,  and  for  that  of  any  young  women  in  their  re- 
spective spheres  whom  they  might  be  enabled  to  influ- 
ence for  good."  These  members  were  largely  girls 
of  leisure  and  education  who  wanted  to  become  more 
efficient  workers  for  God.  Miss  Robarts  also  explained 
in  the  same  circular  that  "the  title  of  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  was  assumed  simply  as  the 
feminine  of  Young  Men's,"  which  had  already  become 
known  to  many  of  the  same  friends.  The  local  units, 
however,  were  called  Branches,  not  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations.  That  term  was  usually  re- 
served for  the  membership  as  a  whole  and  the  usage  is 


12      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

steadily  adhered  to  by  many  British  ladies,  among 
them  Miss  Lucy  M.  Moor,  the  friend  of  Miss  Robarts 
and  Mrs.  Pennef  ather  and  the  historian  of  the  British 
movement. 


CHAPTER  III 

AN  OPEN  DOOR  IN  LONDON 

MISS  ROBARTS'  classification  of  young 
women  was  no  doubt  made  more  from  ob- 
servation than  from  statistics.  However, 
the  British  census  of  1851  reported  3,000,000  young 
women  in  Great  Britain  (excluding  Ireland)  engaged 
in  industrial  occupations ;  of  this  number  500,000  were 
wives  helping  their  husbands  either  behind  the 
counter,  at  the  desk,  or  in  manufacturing  processes. 

The  39,139  nurses  in  domestic  service  largely  out- 
numbered nurses  in  hospitals  and  on  cases,  but  the  age 
of  those  nurses — half  olP  them  were  from  five  to 
twenty  years  old — ^helps  us  to  understand  that  Tilly 
Slowboy  was  as  true  to  life  as  Sairey  Gamp  or  Betsey 
Prig,  who  have  come  to  the  front  as  the  representative 
English  nurses  of  that  period.  As  to  the  living-in 
system  which  prevailed  for  young  women  shop  as- 
sistants as  well  as  for  youths,  it  was  probably  a  survival 
from  the  time  when  one  extra  pair  of  hands  was  called 
in  to  help  the  shop  keeper,  of  whose  family  the  owner 
of  the  pair  of  hands  then  became  a  part.  But  the 
family  idea  had  long  since  been  abandoned.  The  girl 
shop  assistants  spent  most  of  every  week-day  waking 

13 


14      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

hour  in  the  shop  itself.  Recesses  for  meals  were  of  the 
shortest  and  even  on  Sunday  the  girls  were  not  al- 
lowed to  stay  in  their  own  rooms. 

That  knight  of  womanhood,  who  has  been  called  the 
most  spiritual  Christian  of  his  age,  Antony  Ashley 
Cooper,  later  the  seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  had 
spoken  with  alarm  a  few  years  before  of  the  displace- 
ment of  male  by  the  substitution  of  female  labor  in  in- 
dustrial occupations  at  large.  Although  he  had  led 
Parliament  to  put  a  stop  to  the  degrading  colliery 
practices  where  women  and  girls  crawled  through  dan- 
gerous passages,  harnessed  like  beasts  of  burden,  drag- 
ging after  them  heavily  loaded  carts,  yet  women  were 
still  laboring  in  fields  and  factories. 

Young  girls  in  dressmaking  and  millinery  trades 
were  working  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  hours  per  day. 
There  is  no  hint  at  this  time  of  those  occupations  in 
business  houses  which  were  certainly  lighter,  but  which 
were  monopolized  by  men.  In  1854  telegraph  clerk- 
ships were  first  opened  to  women,  in  1870  the  post  of- 
fice used  a  mixed  staff  in  its  clearing  house  branch. 

Only  one  occupation  was  genteel  enough  to  engage 
the  well  born  young  woman  whose  need  to  earn  her 
bread  was  sometimes  as  severe  as  that  of  a  girl  in  the 
lower  classes.  She  might  be  a  governess  in  a  home. 
For  this  as  for  the  other  gainful  occupations  no  pro- 
fessional preparation  was  required,  and  what  she  made 
of  the  position  depended  entirely  upon  her  own  person- 
ality and  the  character  of  the  family  where  she  lived. 

Ladies  as  well  as  hired  nurses  went  out  to  the 
Crimean  hospitals  under  the  leadership  of  Florence 


AN  OPEN  DOOR  IN  LONDON  15 

Nightingale,  that  gentlewoman  trained  in  the  best  in- 
stitutions of  Europe. 

The  Honorable  Mrs.  Arthur  Kinnaird,  so  says  her 
biographer,  *' cooperated  with  Viscountess  Strangford 
and  Miss  Nightingale  in  sending  out  nurses. ' '  Various 
institutions  were  recruiting  places,  among  them  a  home 
in  Fitzroy  Square,  London,  where  nurses  might  board 
and  prepare  for  sailing. 

But  the  Crimean  War  had  still  another  effect  upon 
the  woman's  movement.  The  Fitzroy  Square  home 
suggested  to  Mrs.  Kinnaird  a  more  permanent  effort 
for  the  benefit  of  all  girls  coming  up  to  London  from 
the  provinces. 

To  no  avail  does  one  search  for  minutes  of  a  meet- 
ing where  a  resolution  was  passed  to  establish  a  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association.  *' Ladies  did  not  do 
much  with  making  and  seconding  motions.  They  had 
a  cup  of  tea  together,  talked  about  things,  prayed  over 
them  and  then  did  what  seemed  best, ' '  explained  Lady 
Kinnaird 's  daughter,  the  Hon.  Emily  Kinnaird,  upon 
whose  shoulders  her  mother's  mantle  rests.  **You 
could  hardly  say  when  it  was  organized."  But  some- 
time during  the  year  1855  the  decision  was  reached  to 
enlarge  the  scope  of  the  Home,  and  in  January  of  1856, 
the  Hon.  Arthur  Kinnaird  sent  out  a  circular  saying 
that  he  had  taken  over  the  responsibility  of  the  late 
*' Nurses  Home,"  although  *'as  nurses  will  benefit  by  it 
equally  with  other  classes,  we  are  still  in  a  condition 
to  carry  out  the  design  of  the  Nurses  Association." 
By  implication  one  learns  that  Mrs.  Kinnaird  was  the 
head  of  this  enterprise,  but  according  to  the  English 


16      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

custom  that  where  gentlemen  are  contributing  funds 
to  women's  societies  they  also  administer  those  funds, 
the  name  of  the  Hon.  Arthur  Kinnaird  is  signed  as 
treasurer,  with  his  address  and  that  of  his  bankers. 

So  the  work  was  begun.  During  the  first  year  there 
entered  the  home  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  thirty- 
nine  persons  classified  as  follows : 

21  Governesses,  Matrons,  etc. 

2  School  mistresses 

3  Matrons  of  Emigrant  ships 
9  Nurses  from  the  East 

2  Foreigners 

1  Young  Person  in  Training  for  a  school  mistress 

1  Lady  in  Distress 

There  was  a  lady  superintendent  in  residence,  but  as 
her  services  were  gratuitous  she  could  hardly  be  called 
the  first  employed  officer. 

Neither  had  the  name  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  been  officially  assumed,  for  the  circular 
called  the  place  **  North  London  Home,  Late  Nurses 
Home,  or  General  Female  Home  and  Training  Insti- 
tution.'* 

However,  the  main  departments  of  an  Association 
were  already  outlined.  Besides  the  boarding  home 
there  was  an  employment  bureau  for  *' Matrons,  Prot- 
estant Bonnes,  etc."  Intellectual  needs  were  recog- 
nized and  partly  supplied  through  the  lending  library. 
Social  features  were  combined  with  the  religious  activi- 
ties ;  tea  was  always  served  in  the  friendly  hour  which 
followed  the  Sunday  afternoon  Bible  class;  there  was 
an  afternoon  missionary  meeting  each  month ;  and  the 
lady  superintendent  was  at  home  every  Tuesday  and 


Lady  Kinnaied, 
Founder  of  the  Home  and  Institute  Branch  in  Great  Britain 


AN  OPEN  DOOE  IN  LONDON  17 

Friday  evening  to  young  women  from  any  part  of 
London. 

These  departments  were  emphasized  by  organizing 
in  the  Home  a  Young  Women's  Christian  Improve- 
ment Association  in  1858,  when  the  second  superin- 
tendent, a  nurse  returned  from  the  East,  came  into 
contact  with  the  girls  in  business  houses  who  needed  a 
*' Sunday  Home''  and  opportunities  for  recreation,  in- 
struction, and  Christian  companionship.  By  1861 
there  were  four  homes:  one  offered  full  board  and 
lodging  for  five  shillings  a  week ;  two  were  serving  the 
double  purpose  of  residence  and  general  headquarters. 
Next  came  (1861)  the  Institute  at  118  Pall  Mall,  the 
first  experiment  of  opening  rooms  for  offices  and  class 
rooms  independent  of  any  residence.  Mr.  Kinnaird 
in  a  public  address  made  the  following  distinctions : 

In  what  we  simply  call  an  Institute  no  young  persons  are 
boarded  and  lodged.  It  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  pro- 
vide more  than  a  few  homes,  however  valuable  these  are, 
and  when  established  they  of  course  are  involving  house- 
hold cares,  so  that  a  resident  superintendent  in  a  Home 
must,  like  a  lady  in  a  private  household,  have  less  time 
for  aggressive  missionary  work  than  the  superintendent  of 
an  Institute,  who  has  comparatively  speaking  no  home 
cares  and  very  few  household  duties  involving  her  energy, 
The  moral  machinery,  which  is  the  sole  machinery  of  an 
Institute,  is  applicable  to  every  part  of  the  metropolis  as 
well  as  to  country  to^vTis  and  to  districts  where  facilities 
for  lodging  may  not  be  needed.  And  we  also  think  that 
some  friends  who  might  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of 
starting  new  homes  might  more  readily  be  induced  to  start 
Institutes,  when  the  work  would  solely  consist  in  the  loving 
and  patient  endeavor  to  gain  access  to  the  hearts  of  those 
whom  the  Association  is  designed  to  win.     (Cheers.) 


18      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

People  who  complain  of  the  length  of  the  name 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  may  care  to 
know  that  the  general  circular  sent  out  in  1861  showed 
the  title  **  United  Association  for  the  Christian  and 
Domestic  Improvement  of  Young  Women."  The  re- 
ligious and  philanthropic  leaders  of  the  day  appeared 
on  this  directorate,  headed  by  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
President. 

It  was  now  a  metropolitan  movement.  *' While 
there  are  a  few  leading  ideas  emanating  from  the 
centre,  giving  harmony  to  the  work,  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  practical  diversity  in  the  way  of  carrying  it 
on!''    But  a  larger  federation  was  ahead. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FEDERATION  LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  FUTURE 

IN  several  parts  of  England  the  leaders  of  the 
Prayer  Union  branches  had  been  thinking  of  **a 
sort  of  outer  circle,  or  an  organization  for  reach- 
ing and  keeping  an  influence  over  girls  not  eligible  for 
the  Prayer  Union.'*  Some  of  these  leaders  were  in- 
terested in  the  developments  which  led  to  the  founding 
of  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society  in  1875,  and  thought 
about  an  organic  connection  of  the  two  societies, 
abandoning  the  plan,  however,  because  of  the  Inter- 
denominational basis  of  the  one,  and  the  Church  of 
England  basis  of  the  other.  The  leader  of  the  London 
Prayer  Union  branch  was  also  identified  with  Mrs. 
Kinnaird's  rapidly  expanding  work,  and  since  Mrs. 
Kinnaird  was  projecting  a  prayer  union  in  connection 
with  that  it  seemed  reasonable  to  amalgamate  the  two. 
The  secretary  thus  relates  the  action: — *'One  day, 
quite  unexpectedly,  Mrs.  Kinnaird  called  at  19A 
(Young  Women's  Christian  Association  Prayer  Union 
Office  at  19 A  Great  Portland  Street,  London,  West) 
and  Miss  Robarts  and  she  met  for  the  first  time.  They 
settled  the  name  and  the  card  then,  and  the  union  of 
the  two  Associations  in  London  was  effected."  This 
was  in  January,  1877.    In  May  Miss  Robarts  died, 

19 


20      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

having  willed  to  Mrs.  Pennefather  the  presidency  of 
the  Prayer  Unions,  which  numbered  beside  the  forty- 
eight  branches  in  London,  about  fifty  elsewhere  in 
England,  sixteen  in  Scotland,  twenty  in  Ireland,  with 
some  form  of  contact  also  with  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope and  British  possessions  in  America,  Asia  and 
Australia.  Perhaps  12,000  members  in  all  were  en- 
rolled. 

Not  only  had  the  Prayer  Unions  increased,  but 
many  Homes  and  Institutes  all  over  England  had 
spontaneously  sprung  up,  as  Birmingham  (1860), 
Bristol  (1861),  Liverpool  (1864),  Manchester  (1866), 
etc.,  etc.,  so  that  when  reorganization  was  at  hand  its 
outlines  naturally  became,  a  London  division  with 
Mrs.  Kinnaird  as  vice-president,  and  a  country  and 
foreign  division  with  Mrs.  Pennefather  as  vice-presi- 
dent. The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  who  had  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Pall  Mall  Institute,  was  of  course  elected 
president.  His  autograph  letter  of  acceptance  is  on 
file. 

St.  Gile's  House,  Cranborne, 

Salisbury. 
Dear  Mrs.  Kinnaird: 

My  services  to  the  Single  Association  are  so  small  that 
they  will  be  nothing  to  the  Double  one.  Nevertheless,  if  you 
desire  me  as  President  I  will  accept  the  honourable  office, 
and  give  what  time  I  can  when  you  summon  me  to  its  serv- 
ices. 

I  urged  a  similar  Institute  the  other  day  on  the  good 
ladies  of  Glasgow.  They  have  a  Society  for  young  women, 
but  it  is  a  very  "wee"  insignificant  thing. 

Yours  truly, 

( Signed )     Shaftesbuby. 
November  1,  1877. 


LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  FUTURE    21 

This  combination  provided  definitely  for  country 
and  foreign  branches.  The  nearness  of  Great  Britain 
to  the  continent,  the  familiar  acquaintance  of  Eng- 
lish women  with  foreign  people  and  languages,  and 
the  Christian  responsibility  felt  for  British  colonists 
by  the  wives  of  civil  and  military  officials,  led  on  to 
the  Foreign  and  Continental  Division  and  the  Extra 
European  and  Colonial  Division  when  the  United  Cen- 
tral Council  was  formed  in  1884,  and  this  was  the  germ  ^ 
from  which  the  present  World's  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  developed.  Invitations  to  the 
April,  1892,  meeting  of  this  United  Central  Council 
were  sent  to  America,  asking  representatives  skilled  in 
national  administration  to  attend  and  remain  to  form, 
if  the  time  were  ripe,  a  World's  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association.  Further,  when  in  1894  pre- 
liminaries had  been  arranged  and  Great  Britain,  the 
United  States  of  America,  Norway  and  Sweden  had 
united  as  the  active  members  of  a  World's  Association, 
the  chairman  of  the  British  Foreign  and  Continental 
Division,  Mrs.  J.  Herbert  Tritton,  was  made  presi- 
dent. 


E 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  BEGINNINGS  IN  AMERICA 

VERY  great  revival  of  religion  has  certain 
features  which  distinguish  it  from  similar 
manifestations  upon  other  occasions.  The 
historic  American  revival  of  1857-1858  showed  three 
outstanding  characteristics:  the  number  and  value  of 
prayer  circles ;  the  unity  of  Christians  of  different  de- 
nominations; and  the  large  place  filled  by  women  as 
leaders  of  organized  Christian  forces. 

Doctor  Nathan  Bangs,  writing  a  series  of  articles  in 
the  phraseology  of  the  day,  declared  that  the  help  of 
the  ''pious  female '^  should  not  be  spurned.  One  of 
the  famous  union  prayer  circles  of  that  winter  in  New 
York  City  was  led  in  the  Church  of  the  Puritans  on 
the  corner  of  Union  Square  and  15th  Street  by  a  mem- 
ber  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  a  young  woman  of 
A  splendid  intellect,  personal  charm  and  fervent  re- 
\     ligious  life,  Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Roberts. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  organized 
half  a  dozen  years  before,  had  maintained  remarkable 
meetings  in  the  Reformed  Church  on  Fulton  and  Wil- 
liam Streets,  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on 
John  Street,  and  hence  it  was  not  strange  for  the 
women  connected  with  this  ladies'  prayer  meeting  to 

22 


Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Roberts, 

First  Directress  of  the  Ladies'   Christian  Association, 

New  York  City 


THE  BEGINNINGS  IN  AMERICA  28 

contemplate  an  organization  with  aims  and  methods 
somewhat  akin  to  those  of  the  men. 

Accordingly,  a  meeting  was  called  in  the  chapel  of 
the  New  York  University  on  November  24,  1858,  and 
a  Ladies'  Christian  Association  was  formed  with 
thirty-five  charter  members,  who  elected  Mrs.  Roberts 
as  **  first  directress.  *'  The  first  constitution,  printed 
in  a  tiny  booklet  four  by  five  inches  in  dimensions,  is 
of  historic  interest. 

We,  the  undersigned,  believing  that  increase  of  social  vir- 
tues, elevation  of  character,  intellectual  excellence  and  the 
spread  of  Evangelical  Religion  can  be  best  accomplished  by 
associated  effort,  do  hereby  adopt  for  our  mutual  govern- 
ment the  following: 

Constitution 

Any  lady  who  is  in  a  good  standing  of  an  Evangelical 
church,  may  become  an  active  member  by  paying  one  dollar 
annually  in  advance. 

Any  lady  not  a  communicant  may  become  an  associate 
member — except  voting  and  holding  office. 

Duties  of  Members 
They  shall  seek  out  especially  young  women  of  the  opera- 
tive class,  aid  them  in  procuring  employment  and  in  obtain- 
ing suitable  boarding  places,  furnish  them  with  proper  read- 
ing matter,  establish  Bible  classes  and  meetings  for  religious 
exercises  at  such  times  and  places  as  shall  be  most  con- 
venient for  them  during  the  week,  secure  their  attendance  at 
places  of  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  surround  them  with 
Christian  influences  and  use  all  practicable  means  for  the 
increase  of  true  piety  in  themselves  and  others. 

One  can  but  notice  that  the  next  year  after  the  mem- 
bers had  been  conducting  meetings  in  churches,  homes, 
mission  chapels,  and  elsewhere  as  well  as  assembling 
in   their    general   Association   prayer   service,    they 


24       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

amended  part  of  this  preamble  to  read,  **  fully  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  their  own  personal  piety 
may  be  greatly  promoted  by  associated  effort,  and  that 
greater  influence  can  thereby  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
many  of  their  own  sex  in  this  city  (who  are  without 
those  means  of  social  and  religious  education  enjoyed 
by  them) . ' '  They  had  recognized  that  their  first  duty 
was  *'to  be'*  before  they  assumed  the  responsibility 
**to  do/'  and  the  Spirit  of  God  opened  their  eyes  to 
some  unusual  opportunities  for  the  service  they  were 
prepared  to  render.  New  York  City  led  in  the  print- 
ing trades  and  clothing  manufactures  and  there  were 
sufficiently  large  forces  of  young  women  employed  by 
some  of  these  establishments  to  attract  the  attention  of 
the  Ladies'  Christian  Association  as  a  field  for  their 
efforts.  Their  1860  report  speaks  of  religious  services 
for  the  one  hundred  women  employed  in  the  Tract 
House,  and  the  five  hundred  women  employees  in  a 
skirt  factory.  A  later  report  sustains  the  conjecture 
that  this  was  a  hoop  skirt  factory.  A  casual  observer 
of  that  decade  would  have  been  surprised  if  any  one 
had  said  that  the  hoop  skirt  and  its  manufacture  would 
soon  become  laughably  out  of  date,  but  that  the  fashion 
of  religious  services  among  young  women  in  mills  and 
factories  would  become  universally  prevalent.  This 
innovation  of  the  New  York  ladies  antedated  by  a 
dozen  years  any  other  recorded  effort  of  systematic 
extension  of  the  Christian  Association  into  young 
women's  work  places  at  the  noon  hour. 

All  this  may  have  been  more  or  less  inconspicuous, 
but  their  next  venture  brought  them  into  great  promi- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  IN  AMERICA  25 

nence.  The  Rev.  Heman  Dyer  had  been  asked  to  find 
a  comfortable,  safe  boarding  place  for  a  young  woman 
from  out  of  town.  She  was,  it  is  said,  a  minister's 
daughter  who  wanted  to  study  for  self  support  and 
could  not  afford  the  prices  charged  by  respectable 
families  and  boarding  houses.    Dr.  Dyer  reported  this  . 

to  the  new  Association  and  added,  **Now  ladies,  here  is  \  y 
your  work;  open  such  a  Home  for  such  young  girls.'* 
They  had  no  precedent,  but  they  had  faith.  So  they 
hired  a  house  at  21  Amity  Place  for  $850  a  year  rental 
and  opened  it  on  June  1,  1860.  Twenty-one  found 
their  way  into  the  family  the  first  year;  for  the  most 
part  students  of  wood-engraving,  drawing  and  paint- 
ing in  the  School  of  Design  for  Women,  and  teachers 
and  needlewomen.  Other  homes  in  other  localities 
were  later  rented  and  properties  purchased.  This  re- 
quired incorporation,  which  took  place  in  1866  under 
the  name  Ladies'  Christian  Union,  but  the  aim  of  the 
members  and  their  double  devotion  to  their  Wednes- 
day prayer  meeting  and  to  the  Christian  welfare  of 
young  women  did  not  vary.  Mrs.  Roberts '  enlistment 
of  young  girls  of  leisure  in  this  enterprise  finds  place 
in  a  later  chapter, 


PART  II.     1866  TO  1906 

LOCAL  AND  NATIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FIRST  YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTUN  ASSOCIATION  IN 
AMERICA 

4  4  ^^^>i  ANNOT  something  be  done  by  benevolent 
■  ladies  that  shall  remain  a  permanent  in- 

X^  ,^  stitution?"  This  was  the  question  asked 
by  Mrs.  Lucretia  Boyd,  a  city  missionary  of  Boston,  de- 
pressed by  the  deplorable  state  of  things  existing 
among  the  self  supporting  girls  whom  she  met.  Her 
regular  duties  took  her  from  house  to  house,  from 
street  to  street,  month  after  month,  and  she  knew  that 
many  young  women  were  rooming  and  boarding  them- 
selves in  the  attics  of  lodging  houses  where  the  better 
rooms  of  the  lower  stories  were  occupied  by  young 
men.  Few  made  a  part  of  any  pleasant  social  circle, 
but  were  either  lonely  and  discouraged  or  ready  for 
chance  acquaintance  at  railroad  stations,  on  the  street 
or  in  places  of  worldliness  and  folly.  Some  of  these 
girls  had  been  religiously  educated  and  had  sufficient 
inherent  strength  to  resist  the  downward  tendencies  of 
city  life,  but  others  were  unconscious  of  their  own 
danger.  Young  women  were  continually  coming  from 
all  parts  of  New  England  and  the  Maritime  provinces 
to  earn  their  living  in  Boston,  but  there  was  no  agency 
offering  protection  or  advice  to  them  as  strangers. 

29 


so      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

When  ill  they  were  neglected,  when  out  of  work  they 
were  helpless.  Mrs.  Boyd  set  in  order  the  facts  made 
up  from  her  diary  entries  of  several  years,  and  roused 
the  interest  of  some  of  the  leading  Christian  women. 
She  received  a  hearing  at  the  Boston  City  Missionary 
Society  as  she  outlined  the  plan  of  a  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  and  it  looked  as  if  the  desired 
permanent  institution  were  to  be  compassed  in  1859. 

One  of  the  women,  Mrs.  Edwin  Lamson  of  the  Park 
Street  Church,  discussed  the  plans  with  her  pastor. 
He  thought  the  women  could  not  do  all  this  alone,  and 
that  the  men  would  not  help  in  the  undertaking,  yet  he 
presented  the  matter  to  the  ministers'  meeting.  His 
brethren  evidently  saw  eye  to  eye  with  him,  for  they 
decided  that  it  would  be  hazardous  for  the  ladies  to 
undertake  such  a  scheme,  and  seemed  to  believe  that 
in  advising  them  against  it  they  were  kindly  prevent- 
ing them  from  making  a  failure.  Nonplussed,  the 
women  saw  no  way  to  go  ahead  in  establishing  a  Chris- 
tian organization  in  opposition  to  the  leaders  of  Chris- 
tian affairs,  and  action  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

This  unfavorable  response  from  the  clergy  was  all 
the  more  unexpected  because  they  had  been  most  active 
a  few  years  before  in  forming  the  local  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  although  a  sea  captain,  Thomas 
V.  Sullivan,  was  the  real  moving  spirit.  He  had  read 
in  his  denominational  paper,  The  Watchman  and  Be- 
fleet  or,  an  account  of  the  London  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  written  by  an  American  theological 
student  visiting  London  and  reporting  upon  this  novel 
organization,  *' where  there  is  no  turning  a  crank,  no 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  31 

doing  good  by  proxy,  a  society  which  asks  for  sym- 
pathy, prayers  and  active  cooperation,  which  asks  for 
men,  young  men,  nothing  more."  Captain  Sullivan 
is  said  to  have  visited  the  London  Association,  to  have 
become  as  enthusiastic  as  the  previous  American  visi- 
tor and  to  have  lost  no  time  in  imparting  his  knowl- 
edge and  enthusiasm  to  the  young  men  in  his  own  home 
city.  They  advised  with  their  pastors  and  Boston  or- 
ganized on  December  29,  1851,  the  first  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  the  United  States.  They 
afterwards  heard  that  Montreal,  Canada  had  taken  the 
same  step  some  weeks  before.  "Within  a  year,  1,200 
men  had  joined  and  the  first  quarters  had  been  out- 
grown. 

Only  one  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  this  un- 
happy attempt  at  interdenominational  work  for  girls, 
namely,  that  the  pastors  knew  the  needs  of  the  young 
men  of  the  community  much  better  than  the  needs  of 
the  young  women.  They  probably  had  not  realized 
that  young  women  were  entering  the  business  world  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  reasons  for  ''the  combination 
of  effective  religious  appeal  with  a  humanitarian 
social-service  emphasis  upon  a  better  environment  for 
the  tempted  young  man"  were  becoming  valid  also 
in  the  case  of  young  women.  This  realization  came  a 
little  later  when  some  one  said,  ''The  considerations 
that  have  led  to  the  formation  of  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  apply,  if  possible,  with  increas- 
ing force  in  the  case  of  young  women,  who  from  their 
position  and  sex  are  more  unprotected  and  more  help- 
less."   And  the  next  time  the  call  for  the  young 


32       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

women  of  Boston  was  sounded,  it  was  heard  and 
heeded. 

Another  city  missionary  had  become  aroused  to  the 
interest  of  orphaned,  homeless  and  otherwise  unpro- 
tected girls.  There  was  thought  of  establishing  a 
home  for  young  women  who  came  to  the  city  in  search 
of  instruction  or  employment,  but  that  particular 
feature  was  postponed  and  decision  made  *'to  organize 
on  the  plan  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion.''   On  March  3,  1866,  thirty  ladies  met  at  the 

J     home  of  Mrs.  Henry  F.  Durant  in  Mt.  Vernon  Street 

and  adopted  a  constitution  under  the  name  of  the 

Boston  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 

I      Its  object  was  **the  temporal,  moral  and  religious 

\  welfare  of  young  women  who  are  dependent  on  their 

^/  own  exertions  for  support." 
^  Its  basis  of  membership  was  that  **Any  Christian 
woman  who  is  a  member  in  regular  standing  of  an 
Evangelical  Church  may  become  an  active  member  of 
this  Association  by  the  payment  of  one  dollar  annu- 
ally." 

Its  duty,  as  carried  into  effect  by  the  board  of  man- 
agers, was  **to  seek  out  young  women  taking  up  their 
residences  in  Boston,  endeavor  to  bring  them  under 
moral  and  religious  influences,  by  aiding  them  in  the 
selection  of  suitable  boarding  places  and  employment, 
by  introducing  them  to  the  members  and  privileges  of 
this  Association,  securing  their  attendance  at  some 
place  of  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  by  every  means 
in  their  power  surrounding  them  with  Christian  as- 
sociates.   It  shall  be  their  duty  also  to  exert  them- 


"^♦rjitrttiirtHU. » 


COXGRKGATICNAL    HCUSE, 

Where  the  Boston  Association  First  had  Rooms 

(By  permission) 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  33 

selves  to  interest  the  churches  to  which  they  respec- 
tively belong  in  the  objects  and  welfare  of  the  Associa- 
tion, and  to  use  all  practicable  means  for  increasing 
its  membership,  activity  and  usefulness. ' '  The  hostess 
of  that  day,  Mrs.  Durant,  was  unanimously  elected 
president. 

The  new  society  had  a  name.  It  was  soon  to  find  a 
local  habitation.  Two  rooms  were  secured  in  the  Con- 
gregational building  at  23  Chauncey- Street;  these  were 
comfortably  furnished  by  the  generosity  of  friends 
and  were  opened  in  May.  The  reading  room  was  par- 
ticularly large  and  airy,  and  with  papers  and  maga- 
zines, a  few  books  and  a  loaned  piano,  it  was  a  cheerful 
place  to  which  to  ask  young  women.  The  general  secre- 
tary, Mary  Foster,  with  her  attractive  personality 
and  lovable  disposition,  was  a  wise  counsellor  to  the 
many  girls  who  came  in  complaining  of  low  wages  or 
no  work  or  loneliness  in  the  city,  and  at  each  weekly 
meeting  of  the  board  of  managers  she  was  able  to 
bring  to  the  members  opportunities  for  the  personal 
service  they  had  enlisted  to  do.  Miss  Foster  advised 
about  getting  positions  and  homes.  In  six  months 
she  had  found  boarding  places  for  fifty  girls.  Light 
drinks  and  luncheons  were  served  in  the  rooms,  which 
were  open  day  and  evening  except  Sunday.  Although 
**such  healthful  recreation  as  might  be  offered"  was 
provided,  yet  the  chief  social  resource  seemed  to  have 
been  that  of  finding  a  ready  listener  accessible  at  all 
times,  '*A  heart  at  leisure  from  itself,  to  soothe  and 
sympathize. ' ' 

During  the  first  year  a  singing  class  was  started  aS 


J 


84»      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

well  as  the  Bible  class  and  the  Thursday  prayer  meet- 
ing. Another  of  the  dreams  of  the  projectors  came 
true  in  that  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital  offered  free 
care  to  members  who  might  be  ill. 

So  seriously  did  the  managers  accept  their  self  im- 
posed obligation  that  they  sent  a  circular  letter  to  the 
pastors  of  country  churches  that  first  season,  relating 
how  the  duty  of  extending  sympathy  and  protection 
to  young  working  women  in  Boston  had  been  recog- 
nized, and  how  they  stood  ready  to  fulfill  all  the  terms 
of  their  constitution.  An  embarrassment  of  riches 
followed.  More  applications  for  rooms  and  board  re- 
sulted than  they  could  satisfy  with  the  places  they 
were  able  to  recommend. 

By  this  time  the  sentiment  for  a  Home  was  unani- 
mous, and  a  second  circular  was  issued  calling  for 
financial  help,  which  was  the  means  of  securing  the 
two  houses  at  25  and  27  Beach  Street.  When  altera- 
tions and  furnishings  were  completed  at  a  cost  of 
about  $40,000  the  property  was  dedicated  on  February 
19, 1868.  On  the  list  of  subscribers  to  this  fund  is  the 
name  of  Professor  Henry  W.  Longfellow. 

Here  were  found  lodgings  for  eighty,  and  imme- 
diately questions  of  eligibility  arose  which  were  de- 
cided as  follows: 

In  admitting  young  women  to  the  privilege  of  the  Home, 
the  managers  feel  that  they  are  called  upon  to  discriminate 
in  favor  of  the  younger  class  of  applicants  and  of  those  who 
do  not  receive  large  compensations.  It  is  obvious  that  these 
classes  need  the  aid,  protection  and  sympathy  of  such  an 
Institution.  Those  who  are  older,  and  whose  principles  are 
more  firmly  established,  can  better  take  care  of  themselves 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  35 

elsewhere.  A  few  such  as  are  intelligent  and  truly  religious 
belonging  to  this  class  will  be  especially  welcome  on  account 
of  their  influence  upon  their  associates  at  the  Home.  As  the 
Institution  is  not  designed  to  be  a  reformatory,  no  one  will 
be  admitted  whose  references  in  regard  to  character  are  not 
perfectly  satisfactory. 

A  list  of  the  occupations  followed  by  members  of  the 
Beach  Street  family  a  few  years  later  suggests  rather 
accurately,  no  doubt,  the  openings  for  self  supporting 
women  of  that  day,  though  the  fact  that  the  record  was 
made  shortly  after  the  great  Boston  fire  may  affect 
somewhat  the  classification  as  given ; 


Seamstresses 

114 

Clerks  in  Stores 

27 

Compositors 

7 

Machine  workers 

7 

Milliners 

10 

Bookfolders 

6 

Vest  makers 

5 

Book  keepers 

4 

Tailoresses 

2 

Copyists 

2 

Cap  makers 

2 

Teachers 

2 

Artists 

2 

Telegraph   operators 

I 

Students  of  Music 

2 

Students  of  Book-keeping,  Drawing  and 

Elocution 

10 

Blind  Girls 

2 

205 

If  the  family  had  diversified  occupations  by  day  they 
were  at  night  a  homogeneous  group  as  far  as  age  was 
concerned,  for  few  more  than  twenty-five  years  old 
were  received,  and  suitable  homelike  customs  could  be 


i 


36       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

maintained.  The  ten  o'clock  closing  hour  pleased  one 
New  Hampshire  mother.  ''I  have  been  so  glad/'  she 
wrote,  *'that  such  a  restraint  was  about  my  child  liv- 
ing in  your  city ;  I  could  wish  you  closed  even  earlier. ' ' 

The  evenings  at  home  offered  much  that  was  pleas- 
ant to  do.  Besides  what  had  been  begun  in  Chauncey 
Street  there  were  classes  in  Astronomy,  Botany,  Physi- 
ology, Penmanship,  and  Bookkeeping.  The  library 
was  constantly  enjoyed  in  spite  of  its  regretted  de- 
ficiency in  books  of  poetry,  and  there  were  two  home 
evenings  each  week  aside  from  the  special  times  of 
*' social  amusement  during  the  hours  of  leisure." 

A  provision  for  associate  membership  among  any 
young  women  of  good  moral  character,  and  the  fact 
that  the  dining  room  of  the  house  was  conducted  on 
the  restaurant  plan,  meant  that  many  young  women 
in  addition  to  the  lodgers  in  the  home  had  a  part  in 
the  Association.  Many  more  wished  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  employment  bureau  who  were  practically 
unassistable.  It  may  be  that  no  such  word  is  found 
as  yet  in  the  dictionaries,  but  the  condition  it  describes 
is  familiar  to  even  amateurs  in  social  organizations. 
At  a  time  when  Boston  was  credited  with  20,828 
needlewomen  the  annual  report  records  the  ''need  of 
competent  dressmakers,  seamstresses,  machine  work- 
ers, and  capable  nurses,"  the  feasibility  of  **a  depart- 
ment of  instruction  in  these  branches  of  employment 
for  young  women  that  require  time  and  experience  in 
preparation  for  them,"  and  a  desire  to  ''open  and 
maintain  a  Training  School." 

Not  only  because  Boston  was  the  first  city  in  Amer- 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  37 

ica  to  use  the  name  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation does  this  history  go  into  details  that  cannot 
be  repeated  in  other  instances,  but  also  because  from 
the  first  it  has  had  a  rather  sjnnmetrical  development, 
not  emphasizing  one  department  inordinately  above 
another.  It  also  originated  many  lines  of  work  which 
have  been  adopted  into  the  whole  movement,  its  basis 
has  been  one  which  guarantees  its  purpose  in  spite  of 
changing  personnel  of  working  force,  it  has  adhered 
to  formative  instead  of  reformative  measures  and  it 
has  been  of  large  service  to  other  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  and  other  betterment  agencies 
by  training  women  for  their  administrative  and  teach- 
ing staffs.  It  has  still  another  distinction — it  was  the 
field  in  which  Charlotte  V.  Drinkwater  poured  out  un- 
stintingly  thirty-two  years  of  service.  Hers  was  a 
leadership  so  unselfish  one  wonders  how  it  could  be  ef- 
ficient, but  so  efficient  one  realizes  it  must  have  been 
unselfish. 

When  the  city  wished  to  widen  Beach  Street  and  of- 
fered the  Association  a  reasonable  sum  for  its  prop- 
erty, the  managers  decided  to  plan  and  erect  a  new 
building.  Although  the  Hartford  Women's  Christian 
Association,  whose  organization  had  been  inspired  by 
Boston,  had  in  October,  1872,  entered  its  new  home, 
the  first  in  the  country  to  be  constructed  for  such  a 
purpose,  yet  the  Boston  Association  undertook  as  its 
own  original  problem  to  devise  a  structure  so  appropri- 
ate to  the  needs  of  girls  that  they  should  find  in  it  a 
typical  Christian  home  after  the  New  England  pat- 
tern.   One  means  of  raising  the  $120,000  needed  for 


t/ 


S8      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

the  new  property  was  a  mammoth  ten  days'  fair  at 
which  $38,000  was  cleared;  this  included  the  sale  of 
a  piano  for  $850,  of  a  valuable  India  shawl  and  other 
expensive  articles,  since  the  memory  of  the  great  Sani- 
tary Commission  Fairs  of  Civil  War  days  still  lin- 
gered with  the  public.  Further  funds  were  raised  by 
subscription,  and  on  October  14,  1874,  the  new  War- 
renton  Street  Home  opened  its  doors  for  two  hundred 
residents,  who  could  secure  board  at  the  family  table, 
and  room,  light,  heat  and  personal  laundry  for  $3.00 
up  to  $5.50  a  week.  An  adjoining  house  on  Carver 
Street  was  purchased  at  the  time  for  the  employment 
bureau.  Nothing  could  be  further  desired  as  to  phys- 
ical equipment,  but  the  person  to  make  it  serve  the 
young  women  was  yet  to  seek. 

Mrs.  Edwin  Lamson  of  the  Boston  Association 
Board  of  Managers  was  also  a  trustee  of  the  Lancaster 
Girls'  Industrial  School,  where  Miss  Drinkwater  had 
been  as  teacher  and  matron  for  six  years  and  had  been 
developing  among  the  girls  heretofore  untried  plans. 
With  the  invitation  which  the  Boston  board  extended 
to  her  to  become  superintendent  of  the  building  came 
these  carte  blanche  instructions:  ** Build  it  up  by 
your  own  originality;  no  one  can  tell  you  how  to  do 
it,  and  the  men's  prophecy  of  women's  failure  must 
not  be  fulfilled. ' '  Accordingly  when  Miss  Drinkwater 
arrived  on  the  first  of  April,  1875,  she  began  to  take 
account  of  stock  and  discovered  amid  the  bills  payable 
a  coal  bill  for  $500.  When  she  went  down  to  lead  the 
sixty-six  boarders  in  their  evening  devotions,  she  be- 
gan to  learn  the  next  secret,  that  the  thirty  or  more 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  39 

girls  who  had  come  in  from  Beach  Street  were  truly 
loyal  to  the  Association,  but  the  others  seemed  to  con- 
sider their  presence  there  as  a  favor.  She  soon  put  the 
pieces  of  the  puzzle  together ;  an  unpaid  bill  for  coal 
resulted  in  sparing  use  of  it,  a  cold  house,  and  an  all- 
round  chilly  atmosphere.  While  the  loyal  members  en- 
dured this  discomfort  as  manfully  as  possible  the  oth- 
ers frowned,  murmured  and  complained  incessantly. 
The  janitor  when  ordered  to  put  on  more  steam  said 
that  the  boiler  would  burst  if  the  pressure  ran  above 
seventy  pounds,  and  he  would  not  go  beyond  that. 
On  his  next  day  out  the  new  superintendent  called  in 
the  steam  fitter  who  had  installed  the  heating  system, 
learned  every  detail  of  it  and  kept  her  own  counsel. 
Soon  there  came  a  wretchedly  cold,  stormy  day  when 
she  knew  the  girls  would  be  coming  home  drenched  and 
dismal.  She  called  the  janitor  to  her  office,  told  him 
to  make  a  grate  fire  in  the  company  back  parlor,  and 
put  on  seventy-eight  pounds  of  steam.  **But  seventy 
is  all  the  boiler  will  stand."  **You  may  put  on  sev- 
enty-eight and  I  will  be  responsible  for  the  conse- 
quences." The  house  began  to  warm  up.  As  Miss 
Drinkwater  saw  the  girls  returning,  she  opened  the 
basement  street  door,  saying,  *'Come  in  here  and  lay 
off  your  wet  wraps,  and  then  after  supper  come  down 
to  the  back  parlor."  Adverse  sentiment  began  to 
melt.  Soon  the  girls  told  others  in  their  places  of 
business  that  the  Warrenton  Street  Home  was  a  good 
place  to  live  in,  and  by  the  May  board  meeting  the 
number  had  risen  from  sixty-six  to  ninety-one. 
But  summer  was  ahead,  with  probably  a  more  diffi- 


40      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

cult  situation  as  to  vacant  rooms.  The  residents  and 
staff  wrote  letters  to  friends  all  about,  extolling  the 
merits  of  this  new  building  and  asking  that  they  and 
their  friends  come  and  see  them  in  town  at  one  dollar 
a  day.  *  *  The  few  newcomers  who  ventured  to  test  our 
accommodations  were  reckoned  as  so  many  trophies  for 
the  cause,  and  we  spared  neither  time  nor  strength  in 
entertaining  them.''  This  summer  campaign  was  as 
effective  as  the  original  letter  to  the  New  England  min- 
isters in  1866,  for  when  fall  came  on  the  house  was 
filled  with  the  girls  for  whom  it  had  been  put  up.  In 
fact,  some  fastidious  young  persons  who  had  an- 
nounced that  they  "didn't  like  the  street"  and  ''didn't 
want  to  be  considered  objects  of  charity"  now  com- 
peted with  each  other  for  rooms  for  the  coming  year. 
Convention  delegates  and  other  transient  guests 
poured  in  and  were  glad  to  obtain  cots  for  the  nights, 
or  even  to  get  bedrooms  outside  and  come  in  to  join 
the  family  in  parlors  and  dining  room. 

Yet  there  was  something  more  than  good  manage- 
ment which  was  making  that  home  a  success:  "sanc- 
tified common  sense, ' '  the  owner  of  this  quality  called 
it,  common  sense  evidenced  by  care  in  assigning  the 
one  or  two  roommates  so  that  the  necessary  compan- 
ionship would  be  enjoyable  and  beneficial;  delicacy 
in  gaining  and  retaining  the  confidence  of  members 
of  the  family;  alertness  in  anticipating  and  gratify- 
ing wishes;  resourcefulness  in  providing  home  amuse- 
ments; cordiality  in  inviting  young  men  friends  to 
the  house ;  tact  in  promoting  voluntary  literary,  social 
and  religious  organizations  in  the  home;  and  depend- 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  41 

enee  upon  the  Spirit  of  God  for  daily  wisdom  in  reach- 
ing and  elevating  the  soul,  which  was  the  primary 
object  of  her  work. 

Out  of  the  employment  bureau  and  its  perplexing 
problems  rose  much  of  the  strongest  future  work. 
Again  and  again  had  the  demand  for  good  household 
helpers  overwhelmed  the  secretary,  who  saw  only  a 
meager  number  of  women  for  whom  the  Association 
could  conscientiously  vouch  among  the  crowd  await- 
ing positions.  Some  who  might  have  been  efficient, 
were  not,  because  of  personal  discrepancies;  some 
could  not  take  places,  some  would  not  take  them,  others 
took  them  but  did  not  keep  them.  Again  and  again 
the  question  of  a  training  school  for  domestic  service, 
or  a  kindred  institution,  was  before  the  managers. 
Finally,  a  little  later,  a  house  next  door  was  rented 
for  a  bureau  of  instruction,  with  a  boarding  depart- 
ment and  arrangements  for  girls  of  sixteen  years  or 
more  to  secure  a  three  to  six  months'  course  in  all  do- 
mestic branches,  including  sewing  and  laundry  work. 
As  the  plan  progressed  it  seemed  wise  to  grant  com- 
pensation to  students  after  a  certain  duration  of  resi- 
dence, and  as  the  course  included  some  study  of  Eng- 
lish subjects  as  well  as  religious  instruction  the  gradu- 
ates went  out  with  a  good  economic  and  moral  prepara- 
tion for  a  calling  in  which  the  demand  was  unabating. 

In  1879  were  held,  three  times  weekly,  cooking 
classes  taught  by  Madame  Favier  and  attended  by 
women  of  leisure,  or  any  who  wished  domestic  instruc- 
tion but  could  not  come  into  the  three  months'  resi- 
dence required  in  the  domestic  training  school,  of 


42      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

which  some  six  or  eight  were  taking  advantage.  But 
the  most  interesting  development  of  this  cooking 
regime  was  that  a  donor — a  man,  as  might  be  reason- 
ably expected — offered  a  course  of  twelve  lessons  in 
cookery  to  a  class  from  the  public  schools,  and  Mr. 
Swan,  head  master  of  the  Winthrop  School,  sent 
twelve  girls  from  the  senior  class,  who  finished  their 
studies  with  a  May  Day  Exhibit,  in  1880,  and  with 
enough  general  satisfaction  so  that  this  course  was 
followed  the  next  season  by  another  taught  by  Mrs. 
Webb,  a  graduate  of  Miss  Parloa's  normal  class. 
This  was  experimental  work  in  a  double  sense,  as  the 
subject  had  not  before  been  taught  in  the  Boston 
schools.  The  combination  of  boarding  house  and 
bureau  of  instruction  was  favorable  to  the  training 
school  class,  but  the  other  students  hoped  for  a  place 
distinct  from  that  where  meals  were  being  prepared. 
All  of  this  was  due  in  good  season. 

Then  too,  the  employment  bureau,  while  dealing 
exclusively  with  domestic  occupations,  could  not  be  of 
much  help  to  the  steady  stream  of  young  women  whose 
strength  or  aptitude  fitted  them  better  for  other  du- 
ties, and  for  these  some  systematic  effort  must  be  made. 
One  day  three  Canadian  sisters,  all  wearing  mourn- 
ing, came  in  asking  advice  as  to  how  to  begin  making 
their  way  in  the  world.  The  eldest  had  applied  for 
a  position  at  the  post  office,  thinking  that  would  be 
congenial  and  remunerative.  She  learned  that  there 
were  no  vacancies  and  already  several  thousand  ap- 
plications on  file.  Upon  the  superintendent's  advice 
the  elder  began  the  study  of  bookkeeping,  the  second 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  43 

entered  nurse's  training  and  the  youngest  worked  for 
her  board  in  the  home  and  went  to  public  school.  This 
incident  of  girls  unfitted  for  anything,  searching 
everywhere  for  a  chance  to  earn  their  bread,  deter- 
mined the  opening  of  a  Business  Register,  which  ever 
afterwards  sought  places  for  girls,  as  the  domestic  em- 
ployment bureau  continued  to  seek  girls  for  places. 
With  this  registry  the  Mercantile  School,  as  the  busi- 
ness classes  were  termed,  and  other  educational  de- 
partments closely  cooperated.  Dr.  Edward  0.  Otis 
inaugurated  a  course  of  Emergency  Lectures  in  1883 
which  were  so  popular  as  to  be  immediately  repeated. 
On  December  8,  1884,  the  new  building  at  40  Berke- 
ley Street  was  dedicated.  It  contained  the  training 
school  and  other  educational  departments,  and  the 
employment  bureau,  assembly  hall,  offices  of  adminis- 
tration, parlors,  and  reading  room,  large  dining  room 
and  sleeping  rooms  for  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  resi- 
dents. On  the  fifth  floor  was  the  Durant  gymnasium,  (l 
the  first  to  be  incorporated  into  a  Young  Women's  } 
Christian  Association  building.  Physical  education  as  ' 
now  conducted  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  class  in  calis- 
thenics taught  by  one  of  the  boarders  in  1877,  of  ath- 
letics in  the  park  in  1882,  and  of  a  few  simple  exer- 
cises originally  prepared  for  the  residents  in  the  War- 
renton  Street  Home,  with  a  few  chest  weights  on  closet 
doors  and  in  the  corners  of  hallways  as  apparatus,  in 
1882.  That  same  year  free  instruction  was  offered  a  i  ,  ^ 
class  from  the  Association  in  Miss  Allen's  famous  gym-  i 
nasium.  The  board  of  managers  had  heartily  accepted 
and  made  the  uniform  suits  required,  and  the  super- 


44      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

.     intendent  accompanied  the  class  during  the  first  sea- 
{     son.    The  first  teacher  in  the  Durant  gymnasium  was 
^  \     Anna  Wood  of  the  Wellesley  College  gymnasium  fac- 
\    ulty. 

The  calls  for  domestic  help  kept  growing  louder. 
v/  Sometimes  Miss  Drinkwater  would  count  twenty 
housekeepers  looking  for  maids  where  she  could,  see 
one  girl  whom  she  could  recommend,  with  almost  any 
price  put  upon  her  services.  She  knew  there  were 
girls  coming  into  the  city  who  needed  the  very  kind 
of  work  in  homes  here  offered  and  who  needed  still 
more  the  protection  and  advantages  of  other  depart- 
ments in  the  Association.  So  one  April  morning  in 
1887,  Miss  Drinkwater  rose  at  five  o^clock  and  walked 
to  one  of  the  docks.  An  old  wharf  hand  stopped  his 
sweeping  to  hold  speech  with  her.  ''Every  steamer 
brings  girls  who  don't  know  where  to  look  for  work. 
Well,  well,  am  I  not  glad  to  know  that  the  women  of 
Boston  have  awakened  to  the  needs  of  these  girls!'' 
The  way  opened  later  to  have  one  secretary  give  her 
time  to  meeting  steamers  and  following  up  the  various 
and  unfolding  needs  of  the  young  women  who  came. 
In  July,  1887,  Miss  M.  E.  Blodgett  of  Mt.  Holyoke 
College,  a  girlhood  friend  of  Miss  Drinkwater,  as- 
sumed this  new  position.  Girls  who  were  helpless  be- 
cause they  could  not  speak  English,  learned  how  to 
talk  and  act  and  think  like  Americans.  Circulars  and 
newspapers  carried  the  address  of  this  unusual  ''In- 
telligence Office"  into  German  and  Scandinavian  com- 
munities of  both  continents,  and  strangers  began  to 
look  it  up  on  arrival.    As  the  Young  Traveler's  Aid 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  45 

Association  of  Boston  had  already  begun  to  be  of  use 
in  the  same  way,  so  far  as  receiving  travelers  was  con- 
cerned, a  meeting  was  held  to  divide  the  territory. 
This  society  remained  in  charge  of  the  railroad  sta- 
tions and  the  Boston  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation of  the  docks,  where  boats  from  Atlantic  coast 
states  and  provinces  and  transatlantic  ocean  steamers 
landed  hundreds  of  women  passengers  on  a  day.  In 
the  first  three  months  Miss  Blodgett  was  able  to  serve 
five  hundred  and  eight  girls  through  channels  within 
and  without  the  Association. 

Every  year  there  was  a  keener  desire  for  a  school 
of  domestic  economy  and  industrial  arts,  or,  as  some 
one  termed  it,  **a  college  for  mental,  spiritual  and 
physical  culture/^  This  should  train  girls  in  house- 
wifery as  a  ladylike  accomplishment,  as  a  means  of 
self  support  in  families  or  institutions,  or  as  a  profes- 
sion in  training  others  in  schools  or  missions.  Mrs. 
Ellen  H.  Richards  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  and  a  personal  friend  of  the  superintend- 
ent advised  on  the  prospectus  which  Miss  Drinkwater 
drew  up  before  it  was  presented  to  the  managers  for 
adoption.  ^'It*s  all  right,"  she  said,  ''but  what  you 
have  put  into  this  curriculum  requires  five  years." 
The  impossibility  of  a  one  year  course  attaining  the 
end  was  sure ;  to  keep  students  five  years  was  equally 
impossible,  so  a  compromise  was  made  on  a  two  years' 
course. 

Though  the  board  of  managers  was  somewhat  ap- 
palled, Mrs.  Durant,  the  president,  whose  name  is 
known  in  academic  circles  in  connection  with  the 


y 


46      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

founding  of  Wellesley  College,  believed  in  it,  and  in 
the  fall  of  1888  the  school  opened  with  a  month  of 
public  demonstration  lectures  by  Mrs.  Emma  P. 
Ewing  of  Purdue  University.  Instruction  in  domes- 
tic economy  covered  cooking  and  general  household 
management,  purchase  and  care  of  family  supplies, 
home  sanitation,  home  dressmaking,  home  millinery 
and  economical  selection  of  wearing  material.  In- 
struction in  industrial  arts  embraced  industrial  draw- 
ing, clay  modeling,  carpentry  for  household  needs, 
wood  carving  and  light  upholstery. 

The  experimental  kitchen  was  a  model  of  its  kind, 
for  it  was  a  large  airy  room  fitted  up  as  a  laboratory 
with  individual  equipment  for  each  student  and  with 
charts,  a  food  museum,  and  other  teaching  appliances. 
The  regular  classes  met  here  day  and  evening  for  cook- 
ing lessons,  the  normal  class  secured  their  advance  in- 
struction here  and  twice  a  week,  the  twenty  girls  in 
the  Training  School  for  Domestics  were  taught  here. 

Among  the  teachers  and  lecturers  in  Domestic  Sci- 
ence in  various  years  have  been  Miss  Emily  Hunting- 
ton, Mrs.  Mary  A.  Lincoln  and  Miss  Anna  Barrows. 
The  Normal  pupils  were  resident  and  paid  inclusive 
charges  from  October  to  June  as  in  any  girls*  school 
for  general  culture. 

Of  course  religious  education  was  not  overlooked  and 
presently  from  the  original  Bible  classes  there  devel- 
oped an  evening  Bible  school  with  prescribed  courses 
leading  to  examinations.  On  Saturday  evenings,  the 
Rev.  James  M.  Gray  of  the  Gordon  Training  School, 
which  at  that  time  had  no  evening  classes,  offered  a 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  47 

Synthetic  Study  of  the  Bible.  On  Tuesdays  there  was 
Bible  Geography  and  History  by  Miss  Lucinda  J. 
Gregg,  and  on  Thursdays  Bible  Interpretation  by  the 
Rev.  J.  M.  Orrock.  Naturally  this  led  to  a  depart- 
ment for  Christian  workers  as  a  part  of  the  Normal 
Training  School  and  the  whole  was  formally  termed 
** School  of  Domestic  Science  and  Christian  Workers." 
Nor  was  it  strange  that  Miss  Drinkwater,  who  was  in 
constant  demand  for  preparing  papers  and  other  pro- 
gram duties  for  Association  conventions,  should  be 
considered  the  natural  head  for  a  department  of  As- 
sociation Organization.  This  she  gave  in  two  months' 
courses  for  five  years  (1897  to  1901  inclusive),  and 
from  the  forty  or  more  students  there  went  out  some 
devoted  and  capable  secretaries  to  Women's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  throughout 
the  country. 

Thus  for  thirty-three  years  of  nearly  continuous  la- 
bors Miss  Drinkwater 's  mind,  might,  soul  and  body 
strove  for  young  women,  her  neighbors  in  the  gospel 
sense.  After  the  presentation  of  the  secular  depart- 
ments upon  one  occasion,  the  question  was  asked  her, 
**What  is  the  Boston  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation doing  in  the  line  of  religious  work?"  This  an- 
swer was  given:  ''Soul  winning  and  Christian  charac- 
ter building  through  a  score  of  means."  These  were 
cited  in  a  paper  read  at  the  International  Board  Con- 
ference in  1893. 

1,  Personal   efforts  of   directors   and   resident   officials   to 

bring  strangers  under  moral  and  religious  influence. 

2.  By  aiding  them  in  the  selection  of  suitable  boarding 

places,  and  by  friendly  visits  and  relief  in  trouble. 


48       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

3.  By  securing  their  attendance  at  some  place  of  worship 

on  the  Sabbath. 

4.  By  introducing  them   to   Sabbath    School   and    Church 

Socials  and  surrounding  them  as  far  as  possible  with 
Christian  associates. 

5.  By  a  free  distribution  of  printed  cards  of  invitation  to 

religious  services  held  in  the  Berkeley  Street  build- 
ing, also  by  tracts  and  leaflets. 

6.  By  meeting  girls  at  the  wharves  who  arrive  as  strangers 

on  our  shores  and  ministering  to  their  bodily  and 
spiritual  needs. 

7.  By  daily  family  worship  in  each  of  the  Homes. 

8.  By  weekly  home  prayer-meetings  and  Sabbath  morning 

devotions  conducted  by  Christian  young  women  of  the 
Home.     Bible  classes  for  all. 

9.  By    object    teaching    in    Bible    study    through    models, 

charts,  maps  and  blackboard  work. 

10.  By  practical  application  of  the  truth  to  individuals. 

11.  By  personal  appeals  to  the  unconverted. 

12.  By  letters  of  transfer  from  one  Association  to  another. 

13.  By  loans  and  gifts  of  money  to  poor  but  worthy  girls, 

temporarily  ill  or  out  of  work,  or  otherwise  in  special 
need. 

14.  By  aiding  ambitious  girls  to  an  education  with  the  hope 

that  their  talents  will  be  consecrated  to  God's  service. 

15.  By  the  aid  and  influence  of  Christian  teachers  in  Schools 

and  Class  Department. 

16.  By  equipping  young  women  with  a  systematic  course 

of  Bible  Study  and  Scientific  Homemaking,  and  send- 
ing them  out  as  Missionaries,  Teachers,  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  Secretaries,  Pastors' 
Assistants  and  organizers  of  different  kinds  of  re- 
ligious works  throughout  the  country. 

17.  By  practical   training   in   all  forms   of  Mission   Work 

under  the  leadership  of  a  Christian  worker,  in  Girls' 
Clubs,  Free  Kitchen  Gardens  and  Industrial  Classes 
conducted  and  sustained  by  the  Association. 

18.  By  teaching  young  women  the  proper  relation  of  body 

to  mind  and  spirit  and  their  personal  responsibili^ 
to  God  in  its  care  and  development. 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  49 

19.  By  placing  the  unskilled  under  religious  influences  while 

being  trained  in  some  branch  of  industry. 

20.  By  teaching  the  ignorant  to  read,  and  furnishing  them 

with  Bibles. 

21.  By  warning  the  willful  of  danger  and  pointing  them  to 

Christ. 

22.  By  letters  of  sympathy  and  counsel  to  the  absent. 

23.  By  private  seasons  of  prayer  with  inquirers. 

24.  By  the  truth  of  God  unfolded  to  doubters  and  skeptics. 
By  the  above  means  the  entire  work  of  the  Boston  Young 

Women's  Christian  Association  is  permeated  with  general 
religious  instruction. 


CHAPTER  VII 

OTHER  PIONEER  CITY  ASSOCIATIONS 

WHEN  these  two  groups  of  Christian  women 
in  New  York  and  Boston  who  had  organ- 
ized on  behalf  of  self  supporting  girls 
were  augmented  in  June,  1867,  by  a  similar  society 
in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  a  third  title  had  been  in- 
troduced, Women's  Christian  Association,  but  the 
aim,  **  improving  the  welfare  of  self  supporting  young 
women,"  the  active  membership  within  Evangelical 
churches,  and  the  duties  of  managers,  were  almost 
identical  with  those  of  the  two  Associations  previously 
established. 

This  was  not  strange.  The  first  president,  Mrs. 
Charles  B.  Smith,  in  a  reminiscent  anniversary  ad- 
dress forty  years  later,  told  how  her  husband's  niece, 
Mrs.  Marshall  0.  Roberts  of  New  York  City,  had 
spoken  at  the  Ladies*  Union  prayer  meeting  in  the 
Pearl  Street  Church  of  Hartford  upon  the  text,  * '  The 
Master  is  come  and  calleth  for  thee, ' '  in  the  winter  of 
1867.  The  recently  organized  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  Hartford,  the  knowledge  of  what  Mrs. 
Roberts  was  doing  in  New  York  City,  and  correspond- 
ence with  Mrs.  Durant,  president  of  the  one-year-old 
Boston  Association,  helped  the  ladies  of  the  Hartford 

50 


OTHER  CITY  ASSOCIATIONS  51 

prayer  band  in  deciding  whether  to  undertake  preven- 
tive or  reformatory  work.  ''Each  was  a  great  work, 
but  they  must  be  separate,  and  in  our  infancy  we 
could  undertake  but  one. ' '  When  the  preventive  pol- 
icy had  won  the  day  and  a  home  for  self  supporting 
girls  was  in  prospect  Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker, 
one  of  the  leaders,  remarked,  *'I*m  going  to  lobby  to 
be  matron  of  that  home.'* 

But  they  did  not  wait  for  that  home.  A  few  hun- 
dred dollars  was  raised  to  lease  rooms  in  a  business 
block  on  Asylum  Street  from  which  the  landlord  who 
lived  near  by  really  received  more  than  his  rent,  for 
he  said  he  delighted  to  sit  and  listen  to  the  singing 
of  the  girls  at  the  rooms.  That  very  autumn  a  lady 
subscribed  $1,000  for  the  nucleus  of  a  building  fund. 
To  this,  the  first  organization  of  ladies  in  the  city, 
much  help  came  from  the  clergy  and  well  known  oc- 
casional speakers,  such  as  H.  Clay  Trumbull  and 
D.  L.  Moody  and  the  famous  "Singing  Evangelist," 
Philip  Phillips. 

Reckoning  exactly,  the  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  antedated  Hartford 
by  about  six  weeks,  but  the  deliberations  of  the  man- 
agers as  to  reformatory  versus  preventive  measures 
ended  in  a  compromise,  and  the  home  which  was 
opened  in  Providence  on  July  23,  1867,  combined  the 
two  features.  But  the  experiment  proved  the  unde- 
sirability  of  the  arrangement,  a  separation  was  made 
and  a  new  constitution  adopted  so  that  the  Associa- 
tion might  really  in  its  present  form  be  said  to  date 
from  March,  1868.     Other  cities  organizing  Women's 


52      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Christian  Associations  in  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing covered  both  these  branches  and  other  forms 
of  institutional  work.  In  this  connection  it  has  been 
said, 

While  many  of  the  Associations  at  their  origin  took  the 
work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  as  a  type 
for  their  own,  it  was  soon  found  out  that  the  requirements 
for  successful  work  among  women  were  much  more  varied 
than  for  men.  In  the  newer  communities  where  few 
charitable  societies  existed  the  Associations  must  embrace 
and  sometimes  confine  themselves  to  fields  of  labor  already 
filled  by  societies  in  older  cities.  Thus  the  charge  often 
made,  that  "the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
and  Women's  Christian  Associations  embrace  all  sorts  of 
things,"  appears  on  the  surface  to  have  truth,  but  under- 
neath all  the  variety  liea  the  one  common  purpose,  never 
lost  sight  of  by  any  Association,  to  do  all  things  possible  for 
the  elevation  of  women  physically,  mentally,  morally  and 
spiritually. 

To  the  establishment  of  a  third  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  in  Pittsburgh,  which  dates  from 
1867,  the  productive  religious  sentiment  of  that  decade 
also  contributes,  as  is  seen  by  the  following  extract 
from  one  of  its  reports: 

During  the  session  of  a  Christian  Convention  under  the 
direction  of  Rev.  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody  and  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  when  the  spirit  of  God,  invoked  by 
the  presence  and  prayer  of  these  lovers  of  God  and  their 
fellow  men  seemed  present  in  power,  a  request  was  made  to 
Rev.  Mr.  Moody  that  he  would  tell  of  the  wonderful  work 
of  the  women  of  London  for  their  own  sex,  and  so  instruct 
the  women  of  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny  that  they  too  might 
lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  destitute  and  suffering  and  save 
the  tempted. 

He  addressed  a  large  meeting  of  interested  men  and 


OTHER  CITY  ASSOCIATIONS  53 

women,  who  were  anxious  for  this  new  departure  for 
the  cause  of  God  and  humanity,  and  thus  on  the  spot 
a  Women  *s  Christian  Association  was  organized  and 
$1,640  subscribed  as  an  initial  offering. 

So  powerful  was  this  impulse  that  in  1875,  when 
Pittsburgh  entertained  the  Third  International  Con- 
ference of  Women's  Christian  Associations,  reports 
were  submitted  from  ten  distinct  branches  in  order  of 
their  date  of  organization, — the  Temporary  Home  for 
Destitute  Women,  Home  for  Aged  Protestant  Women, 
Boarding  Home  for  Working  Women,  Sheltering 
Arms,  Women's  Foreign  Union  IMissionary  Society, 
Gilmore  Mission,  Bible  Reader's  Mission,  Ladies'  De- 
pository and  Employment  Office,  Hospital  Committee 
and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of 
East  Liberty. 

Westward  the  star  of  empire  continued  and  in  1868 
two  Women's  Christian  Associations  were  formed  in 
Ohio,  Cincinnati,  and  Cleveland.  Of  the  former  Mrs. 
John  Davis,  its  first  president,  said,  *'The  instrument 
under  God  in  the  formation  of  this  Association  was  a 
member  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
Cincinnati  who  saw  the  need  and  suggested  the  work. 
This  young  man,  now  a  missionary  in  China,  has  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  we  are  reaping  a  rich  harvest 
from  the  small  seed  he  planted."  The  first  result 
for  girls  was  the  opening  of  a  home  in  March,  1869. 
''They  have  a  well  ordered,  contented  household  with 
a  good  table,  neat  rooms,  and  a  general  compliance 
with  rules.  But  the  work  of  the  Association  is  not 
limited  to  the  care  of  young  women  at  the  Home. 


54r      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

They  have  organized  a  city  missionary  work,  visiting 
in  the  hospitals,  county  jail,  city  prison  for  women, 
house  of  refuge,  work  house,  etc.,  seeking  to  cheer  and 
encourage  a  class  so  much  neglected,  to  lead  better 
lives.''  Public  sentiment  was  so  strong  in  Cleveland 
that  the  old  hall  at  the  corner  of  Superior  and  Seneca 
Streets,  then  the  home  of  the  Cleveland  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  ca- 
pacity at  the  initial  meeting.  ''Almost  immediately  a 
Missionary  Committee  was  formed,  the  city  was  re- 
districted  and  a  certain  definite  tract  assigned  for 
visitation  to  each  patronizing  church."  The  next 
year  they  secured  property  and  opened  a  boarding 
home  in  November,  1869. 

And  still  further  to  the  west  St.  Louis  women  had 
been  saying,  ''There  should  be  a  place  of  safety  in 
this  great  western  city  for  young  women  thrown  upon 
their  own  resources  for  maintenance."  A  vacant 
building  had  appealed  to  them  as  particularly  avail- 
able for  such  a  home,  and  they  had  even  fixed  upon 
a  clergyman  and  his  wife  to  be  its  proper  guardians. 
Presently  the  way  opened,  as  is  recorded  in  the  first 
report.  In  November,  1868,  Mr.  H.  Thane  Miller  of 
Cincinnati,  who  was  in  attendance  at  a  Christian  con- 
vention in  St.  Louis,  invited  the  ladies  of  that  city  to- 
gether that  he  might  urge  upon  them  the  necessity  of 
Christian  labor  among  and  for  their  own  sex.  This 
call  was  responded  to  by  seventy-five  or  more  ladies, 
among  them  many  earnest  Christian  workers  with  the 
inquiry  in  their  hearts,  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have 
me  to  do?" 


OTHER  CITY  ASSOCIATIONS  55 

His  earnest  appeals  for  sympathy,  for  counsel,  for  aid, 
for  a  Christian  Home  for  Women,  made  more  forcible,  if 
possible,  by  a  recital  of  incidents  that  had  fallen  under 
his  own  observation,  entranced  the  audience  and  led  them 
to  feel  that  his  lips  were  touched  with  pentecostal  fire  and 
his  soul  clothed  with  poetry  as  with  a  garment  attuned  to 
the  very  essence  of  holy  song.  Could  this  be  lost,  his  zeal, 
his  song,  which  might  be  said  "to  animate  the  dead  and 
move  the  lips  of  poets  cast  in  lead"!     Let  the  sequel  tell. 

The  sequel  was  the  organization  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Association  of  St.  Louis,  which  within  four 
months  had  leased,  furnished  and  opened  a  boarding 
home. 

Under  a  still  further  variety  of  circumstances  did 
the  other  pioneer  city  Associations  come  into  being. 
Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Eoberts,  first  directress  of  the  La- 
dies' Christian  Union  of  New  York  City,  invited  a 
company  of  young  women  of  leisure  to  meet  at  her 
home  at  107  Fifth  Avenue  on  February  10,  1870, 
where  they  formed  a  Young  Ladies'  Branch  of  this 
Union  which  next  year  became  the  Young  Ladies' 
Christian  Association  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  in 
1876  changed  the  title  to  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association.  Utica  also  dates  from  1870,  and  Phila- 
delphia, which  ''received  its  first  call  and  inspiration 
from  Mr.  Miller,  who  addressed  Christian  women  on 
*  Women's  Work  for  Her  Own  Sex,'  "  also  Washington, 
D.  C,  Dayi;on,  and  Buffalo.  In  1871  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  wheeled  into  line.  Some  eight  or  ten 
other  cities  were  listed  up  to  this  time  as  carrying  on 
work  which  either  lapsed  shortly  afterwards,  or  be- 
came absorbed  in  other  general  movements  where  the 


56      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

features  they  had  been  emphasizing  rightly  belonged. 

Because  of  the  variety  of  purpose  and  method  indi- 
cated above,  it  was  natural  that  the  constitutions  of 
the  later  pioneers  varied  more  than  did  the  three  first 
formulated.  In  a  number  * '  any  woman  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  the  membership  fee'^  might  become  an  active 
member. 

Almost  every  one  of  the  pioneer  Associations  started 
some  work  which  later  became  a  prominent  independ- 
ent philanthropy  or  charity  in  the  city.  Examples  of 
this  are  the  Woman's  Exchanges  for  sale  of  women's 
handwork  which  the  Women's  Christian  Association 
of  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis  and  many  other  cities  evolved 
and  put  upon  a  paying  basis  before  they  were  inde- 
pendently maintained.  The  Board  of  Associated 
Charities  in  Cincinnati  and  many  other  relief  organ- 
izations elsewhere  had  their  rise  in  a  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association.  For  eleven  years  the  Young  Ladies' 
Branch  of  the  Women's  Christian  Association  of 
Cleveland  developed  work  for  children,  until  in  1893, 
the  Day  Nursery  and  Kindergarten  Society  of  Cleve- 
land became  a  chartered  institution  in  care  of  the  five 
day  nurseries  and  six  kindergartens  thus  originated. 
This  roll  might  be  indefinitely  extended. 

*'The  elevation  of  women  physically,  mentally, 
morally  and  spiritually"  was  not  only  forcing  women 
into  unsuspected  fields  of  opportunity ;  it  was  also  re- 
vealing unsuspected  capacities  that  were  henceforth 
abundantly  made  use  of. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


IN  certain  cities,  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  expressed  the  maternal  concern 
which  Christian  women  felt  for  young  women 
getting  a  foothold  or  making  their  way  in  unfamiliar 
surroundings;  in  other  cities  the  Association  resulted 
from  the  sense  of  sisterhood  through  which  a  few  ear- 
nest Christian  young  women  were  led  to  work  for  the 
things  which  they  and  the  others  wanted. 

Some  of  these  beginnings  were  rather  humble.  The 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  Association,  organized  in  1888, 
said  in  an  anniversary  meeting  that  there  was  **a  list 
of  about  twenty  names  as  charter  members,  with  no 
money  and  little  time,"  but  the  secretary  of  the  pros- 
perous Association,  Martha  Fisher,  remembered  to  add, 
'  ^  but  many  promptings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  born  from 
the  consciousness  of  an  effort  put  forth  *in  His 
name/  "  Some  of  the  methods  may  have  been  ama- 
teurish, as  this  survey  shows.  ' '  In  our  own  city  there 
are  1,500  self  supporting  young  women — 375  are  not 
under  home  influences,  515  are  in  factories,  238  in 
offices,  184  are  teachers,  173  seamstresses  and  390  do- 
mestics." But  if  the  premises  were  perhaps  inac- 
curate the   conclusion   was  correct   enough.     *'With 

67 


58      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

these  statistics  before  us,  can  any  one  doubt  the  need 
of  a  Young  Women 's  Christian  Association ! ' ' 

This  was  indigenous  growth :  Kalamazoo,  Michigan 
(1885),  Lawrence,  Kansas  (1886),  Ypsilanti,  Michi- 
gan (1887),  and  Topeka,  Kansas  (1887),  started  be- 
fore the  days  of  State  secretaries.  The  influence  of 
graduates  of  Mississippi  Valley  coeducational  colleges 
was  felt  by  many  of  the  early  city  Associations,  even 
Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  organized  in  1888;  for  the 
first  president,  Mrs.  L.  M.  Gates,  who  made  Scranton 
the  model  for  a  period  of  years,  was  Helen  Dunn  of 
Hillsdale  College,  Michigan. 

Mingled  with  the  spirit  of  consecration  which  was 
really  the  motive  power  of  these  capable  young  women, 
there  was  frequently  a  feminine  outburst  of  envy.  '  *  I 
don't  see  why  we  girls  can't  have  a  place  like  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  to  go  to."  And 
through  their  own  struggles  they  did  come  to  possess 
such  a  place  in  one  city  after  another,  a  place  where 
they  could  work  together  and  where  the  workers  them- 
selves shared  in  the  objects  of  the  Association  as  stated 
in  the  constitution  almost  universally  adopted — "The 
object  of  this  Association  shall  be  the  improvement  of 
the  spiritual,  mental,  social  and  physical  condition  of 
young  women." 

In  some  cities  there  were  already  women's  organiza- 
tions including  in  their  various  activities  the  housing 
of  young  women  or  specializing  in  that.  This  was 
the  case  in  Minneapolis  in  1890  where  the  Women's 
Christian  Association,  an  outgrowth  of  the  Ladies' 
Christian  Aid  Society,  had  for  twenty  years  repre- 


YOUNG  WOMEN'S  ORGANIZATIONS        59 

sented  the  evangelical  churches  of  the  city  in  relief 
work  for  families,  an  industrial  school  for  children, 
and  other  good  work.  At  that  time  it  was  devoting  its 
energies  to  homes  for  self  supporting  young  women, 
for  transients,  for  aged  women  and  aged  ministers. 
In  the  churches  there  was  a  very  active  Christian  En- 
deavor Union  and  the  young  women  of  its  Central 
Committee  sought  in  vain  for  some  quiet  spot  down 
town  where  they  might  meet  at  noon  for  consultation 
and  prayer.  Plenty  of  places  they  found  for  obtain- 
ing food  and  even  talking  at  the  table,  but  no  place 
where  they  could  have  a  committee  meeting  with 
prayer.  Again  it  was  said,  '*The  young  men  can  go 
to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  I  wish  we 
had  a  place  of  our  own. ' ' 

These  Christian  Endeavor  leaders  called  an  evening 
meeting  in  February  when  the  new  state  secretary  of 
Minnesota  was  to  be  in  town,  and  begged  the  State 
Committee  for  guidance  in  opening  a  **real  city 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association."  The  State 
Committee  promised  help  on  condition  that  they  could 
show  they  were  in  earnest  by  holding  a  Young 
Women's  Sunday  afternoon  meeting  regularly  until 
spring,  and  the  girls  responded  by  electing  a  provi- 
sional committee  to  have  charge  of  this.  This  com- 
mittee was  made  up  of  a  recent  graduate  from  coedu- 
cational Carleton  College,  at  home  for  a  year  or  two, 
another  girl  of  leisure,  a  practising  oculist,  a  business 
girl,  and  the  young  wife  of  the  general  secretary  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  They  kept 
up  the  meeting  and  their  determination  grew  week 


60      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

by  week.  When  spring  came  their  state  secretary  re- 
turned from  the  convention  of  the  International' 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  (see  Chapter 
XIV)  held  in  Scranton,  with  abounding  revelations 
of  that  work,  which  served  as  both  pattern  and  inspira- 
tion, and  Miss  Nettie  Dunn,  general  secretary  of  the 
International  Committee,  was  able  to  make  a  prom- 
ised visit  at  the  same  time.  After  consultations  with 
the  ladies  of  the  Women's  Christian  Association  who 
had  been  hoping  for  such  an  institution  in  Minneap- 
olis, but  had  felt  unable  to  add  another  department  of 
their  own,  after  evening  committee  meetings  of  girls 
and  day  committee  meetings  of  women,  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  was  formed  and  be- 
gan to  look  about  for  a  location.  This  was  secured  in 
October  *  *  in  an  attractive  suite  of  rooms, ' '  so  the  first 
annual  report  said,  and  although  some  callous  people 
called  it  an  ordinary  apartment  or  even  a  flat,  to  the 
enthusiastic  charter  members  it  contained  **a  secre- 
tary's office,  reading  room,  parlor,  class  room,  com- 
mittee room,  kitchen  and  bath." 

It  was  furnished  by  donations  of  things  new  and 
old,  including  a  library  of  380  books,  and  was  opened 
at  once  for  the  religious  and  social  occasions  which 
formed  most  of  their  early  program.  It  certainly 
was  a  place  in  which  to  work  together,  for  out  of  the 
127  active  members,  there  were  twelve  standing  com- 
mittees, counting  in  all  102  names,  but  it  was  not  a 
place  of  general  resort,  and  any  skilled  financier  will 
see  that  these  two  initial  departments  were  not 
revenue-provoking.    Even  the  references  to  employ- 


YOUNG  WOMEN'S  ORGANIZATIONS       61 

ment  were  gratuitous.  One  of  the  dearest  illusions 
was  early  dispelled,  that  is,  that  by  opening  a  room, 
putting  a  name  on  a  door  and  asking  a  hostess  to  be 
present  to  receive,  troops  of  shy  strange  girls  would 
thereby  appear  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  hostess 
and  be  entertained  by  her.  Definite  invitations  were 
accepted,  indefinite  invitations  were  not. 

*'Are  you  reaching  the  factory  girls?"  inquired  one 
patient  business  man,  writing  out  a  check  because  he 
had  confidence  in  the  lady  who  presented  the  little  . 

red  leather  subscription  book  to  him.     *'My  sister  *    >; 

went  up  to  your  rooms  to  entertain  them  one  evening  ^y 
last  week,  and  she  said  nobody  came  except  some  ^  ' 
of  the  regular  members  for  something  else."  The 
embarrassed  secretary  accompanying  the  board  mem- 
ber explained  that  two  girls  from  the  shoe  factory  and 
one  from  the  woolen  mills  had  attended  a  sociable  a 
few  evenings  later  and  said  they  had  a  splendid  time. 
However,  the  kindly  criticism  set  them  to  thinking  and 
later  on  quarters  were  secured  with  regard  to  the 
gymnasium  classes  which  Abby  Shaw  Mayhew  taught, 
and  to  the  lunch  room  and  those  other  features  which 
girls  always  know  they  want,  and  the  location  was  on 
a  street  to  which  one  did  not  have  to  be  personally 
conducted. 

Out  in  the  middle  west  the  term  ** working  girls" 
was  conspicuous  for  its  absence.  In  a  newer  civiliza- 
tion and  especially  in  college  towns,  so  many  girls 
worked  or  were  making  themselves  capable  of  doing 
so  that  the  participle  was  generally  omitted.  In  many 
cities  which  were  rapidly  increasing  in  population 


62      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

during  the  period  of  1880-1890  and  thereabouts,  such 
responsible  positions  were  being  held  by  young  women 
in  railroad  and  newspaper  offices,  in  wholesale  and  re- 
tail business  houses  and  elsewhere,  that  when  the 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  in  1890  launched  the  expressions  *' busi- 
ness women"  and  "business  girls,"  other  communi- 
ties gladly  followed  that  example  in  nomenclature. 

Two  or  three  young  business  women  in  Toledo  had 
formed  an  independent  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  with  a  score  or  so  of  members,  and  had 
rented  a  small  upper  room  where  they  met  for  re- 
ligious meetings  and  an  occasional  social  festivity,  in- 
viting others  to  join  them  as  opportunity  offered. 
They  were  not  affiliated  with  any  state  or  national 
body,  fearing  that  they  might  be  taxed  in  proportion 
to  their  membership.  Still  they  were  so  desirous  of 
uniting  with  the  International  Committee  that  they 
sent  to  Chicago  for  a  traveling  secretary  to  come  and 
explain  matters.  There  was  a  full  meeting,  to  which 
was  presented  the  plan  of  financing  state  and  national 
work  by  voluntary  gifts,  and  when  the  speaker  closed 
with  the  patriotic  principle  that  these  budgets  were 
** Millions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute," 
there  was  a  unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  affiliation. 
That  was  December,  1891 ;  in  a  few  months  the  Toledo 
Association  had  a  new  suite  of  rooms,  nearer  the  center 
of  town  and  nearer  the  ground,  and  called  Agnes  Gale 
Hill  as  general  secretary.  They  increased  their  mem- 
bership in  a  year  more  than  five  times  over,  entertained 
the  International  Convention  in  1893,  and  in  1894  of 


YOUNG  WOMEN'S  ORGANIZATIONS        63 

their  own  will  and  upon  their  own  initiative  sent  out 
their  beloved  secretary  as  the  first  American  repre- 
sentative to  a  foreign  field  and  never  since  relinquished 
that  support. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CITY  DEVELOPMENT  AND  STANDARDIZATION 

THROUGHOUT  all  the  early  years  the  satis- 
faction of  local  divergencies  was  giving  way 
to  the  effectiveness  of  reasonable  similarity. 
Christian  Associations  for  young  women,  whether  con- 
ducted by  women  or  by  young  women,  were  growing 
more  like  each  other  as  experience  taught  the  value 
of  cooperation  between  elder  and  younger.  The 
Women's  Christian  Associations  were  forming  Young 
Ladies'  Branches  or  Junior  Committees  or  adding 
daughters'  names  where  mothers'  names  had  been  en- 
rolled. The  young  women's  organizations  were  de- 
pending more  and  more  upon  the  older  women  on 
boards  of  management,  and  the  ''heavy  committees, 
like  those  on  Finance,  Rooms,  and  Noon  Rest." 
Young  women  were  studying  a  city,  learning  what  a 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was  doing  in 
other  comparable  places,  and  might  do  in  their  own 
communities,  and  then  challenging  with  these  facts  and 
prospects  the  older  women  to  work  with  them  in 
bringing  these  things  to  pass.  And  when  a  petition 
signed  by  hundreds  of  girls  had  been  the  means  of 
bringing  a  Young  Women 's  Christian  Association  into 
being,  the  signers  were  naturally  the  charter  members, 

64 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  65 

and  still  more  naturally,  no  question  was  raised  as  to 
whether  self  supporting  girls  might  be  members  either 
active  or  associate.  These  charter  members  from 
home,  schools,  factories,  offices,  shops  and  stores  were 
the  Association  itself,  active  for  the  most  part,  look- 
ing for  all  the  help  which  the  older  Christian  women, 
clergy,  heads  of  local  movements,  and  secretaries  of 
State  and  National  Committees,  could  give,  but  not 
waiting  for  the  action  of  any  of  these,  nor  dependent 
upon  the  strength  or  weakness  of  any  of  these,  in  at- 
tempting to  plant  the  institution  which  they  felt  they 
and  the  other  girls  needed. 

What  did  they  expect  to  realize?  There  are  cer- 
tain Association  features  which  are  the  deposits  of 
decade  after  decade.  Others  come  in  or  go  out  with 
the  civic  or  economic  or  educational  manifestations, 
local  or  nation-wide,  but  the  permanent  features 
change  only  in  aspect,  or  emphasis,  and  even  the 
temporary  are  seen  to  respond  to  some  fundamental 
need  of  a  girl,  her  respect  for  her  body  or  the  expan- 
sion of  her  mind  or  the  realization  of  her  soul. 

As  has  already  been  seen,  the  North  London  Home 
of  1855  and  the  Boston  Association  of  1866  contained 
the  germ  of  almost  all  the  departments  which  forty 
or  fifty  years  have  only  served  to  develop.  Each  of 
these  departments  has  a  miniature  history  of  its  own 
which  properly  finds  its  place  in  any  account  of 
the  rise  of  city  Associations,  for  while  **a  Young 
Women  ^s  Christian  Association  is  greater  than  the 
sum  of  its  parts, ' '  these  parts  have  yet  to  be  taken  into 
account. 


66      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Prayer  meetings  were  the  atmosphere  in  which  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  were  born  and 
grew  into  usefulness. 

Because  the  need  for  housing  young  women  under 
a  hospitable  Christian  roof  seemed  paramount,  all  the 
seventeen  Associations  listed  as  pioneers  soon  made  a 
Boarding  Home  the  center  of  their  interests,  with  the 
exception  of  the  New  York  City  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  which,  beginning  as  a  branch  of 
the  Ladies'  Christian  Union,  did  not  duplicate  the 
work  the  latter  had  been  carrying  on  for  a  decade. 
This  is  one  reason  why  it  is  difficult  to  classify  the  re- 
ligious elements  of  the  early  programs,  since  the  meet- 
ings for  the  young  women  at  large  cannot  always  be 
distinguished  from  the  family  prayers  of  any  Chris- 
tian household. 

But  from  the  very  first,  before  any  homes  were 
opened,  there  were  weekly  devotional  meetings.  The 
board  members  met  for  spiritual  communion  and 
found  in  their  hours  of  intercession  light  for  the  path 
ahead  and  a  deepening  confidence  in  the  divine  leader 
in  whose  name  they  had  assumed  unusual  responsibili- 
ties. Many  a  woman  has  acknowledged  that  in  these 
Ladies'  Prayer  Meetings  where  week  after  week  the 
same  familiar  company  gathered,  pleading  requests 
common  to  all,  she  learned  how  to  speak  to  God  aloud 
in  prayer  and  found  courage  to  lead  such  meetings  or 
to  conduct  larger  assemblies  as  the  way  opened  up 
later  on. 

.    The  Thursday  evening  prayer  meeting  in  the  very 
first  rooms  of  the  Boston  Association  was  another  type 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  67 

of  devotional  meeting  which  has  been  followed  by- 
weekly  prayer  services  in  probably  every  Associa- 
tion throughout  the  country. 

How  the  religious  element  permeated  the  boarding 
homes  of  a  city  has  already  been  seen  from  Miss  Drink- 
water  ^s  summary  of  means  used  in  the  Boston  Associa- 
tion. 

But  the  first  large  attempt  to  build  up  a  religious 
service  for  young  women  of  the  whole  city  was  that 
of  the  New  York  City  Association.  In  1872  there  met 
for  a  Sunday  afternoon  Bible  class  seven  women ;  six 
of  these  were  young  women  without  Sunday  school 
relations,  the  seventh,  the  teacher,  was  Ella  Doheny. 
As  became  the  custom  those  present  on  that  first  day 
left  their  names  and  addresses  and  from  this  record  of 
attendance  grew  up  the  membership  roll.  Miss  Do- 
heny gave  herself  unsparingly  to  preparation  for  the 
lesson,  usually  a  continued  exposition  of  one  book  of 
the  Bible  with  special  application  to  the  members  of 
the  class;  workers  in  other  departments  cooperated 
heartily  in  extending  to  young  women  who  came  into 
the  library,  the  employment  bureau  and  other  parts  of 
the  building,  personal  and  cordial  invitations  to  this 
meeting.  In  time  this  class  grew  to  an  enrollment  of 
2,000  with  an  average  attendance  of  600.  The  chap- 
lain, as  Miss  Doheny  soon  became,  went  regularly  with 
a  group  of  members  before  the  service,  but  later  these 
United  Workers,  as  they  called  themselves,  held  their 
devotional  meeting  on  an  evening  during  the  week. 
Thousands  of  women  visiting  New  York  found  their 
way  into  this  Sunday  Bible  class  and  carried  into 


68      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

many  states  the  memory  of  the  dignified  service  from 
which  radiated  uncounted  lines  of  helpfulness  to  its 
members  and  visitors.  The  Easter  observances  were 
so  largely  attended  that  two  overflow  meetings  were 
sometimes  provided  in  other  rooms  after  the  spacious 
chapel  was  filled.  It  is  not  strange  that  on  the  south 
wall  of  this  assembly  room  close  to  the  platform  where 
as  teacher  and  leader  she  had  dominated  the  life  of 
that  influential  Association,  there  should  have  been 
erected  by  the  class  a  bronze  tablet  bearing  these 
words : 

In  loving  memory  of 
ELLA  DOHENY. 
Entered  into  lite  eternal  February  3, 
1910.  Won  in  youth  by  the  Scripture, 
called  by  this  Association  and  identi- 
fied WITH  ALL  PHASES  OF  ITS  WORK  FOB 
FORTY  YEARS.  SHE  SERVED  THE  LORD 
CHRIST  AS  A  MINISTER  TO  WOMEN  IN  THE 
TEACHING   OF   THE   WORD   AND   IN   THE    CUBE 

OF   SOULS. 

I    HAVE    CHOSEN    YOU,     AND    ORDAINED    YOU, 

THAT  YE  SHOULD  GO  AND  BRING  FORTH  FRUIT 

AND  THAT  YOUR  FRUIT  SHOULD  REMAIN. 

Somewhat  after  the  English  terminology  this  serv- 
ice was  called  a  Bible  class,  although  its  teachers  pre- 
sented the  lesson  in  the  form  of  an  address  and  others 
took  part  only  in  the  verse  reading  and  opening  and 
closing  exercises. 

In  most  of  the  Associations  which  began  work  with 
only  a  suite  of  rooms  for  headquarters,  the  Sunday 
afternoon  ** gospel  meeting'*  was  the  heart  of  the 
whole  organization.    It  was  a  taken-for-granted  ap- 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  69 

pointment;  one  did  not  say  '*a''  gospel  meeting  but 
**the"  gospel  meeting.  In  1888,  when  the  state  of 
Kansas  reported  twenty-one  Associations,  twelve  in 
cities  and  nine  in  colleges,  the  Gospel  meeting  was  the 
main  element  of  each  local  report,  with  an  attendance 
of  twenty,  thirty-four,  sixty-five,  etc.,  as  the  case  might 
be.  These  little  gatherings  were  very  simple.  The 
music  was  chiefly  singing  from  a  Gospel  Hymns  col- 
lection accompanied  upon  a  cabinet  organ.  A  differ- 
ent leader  took  charge  each  week,  opening  the  topic 
announced  for  the  day  in  such  a  way  as  to  elicit  the 
cooperation  of  the  other  young  women  in  testimony 
and  prayer.  Sometimes  a  ''Bible  Reading"  was 
given,  either  prepared  by  the  leader  or  carefully  se- 
lected from  some  of  the  religious  periodicals  to  which  it 
had  been  contributed  by  a  well  known  Biblical  student. 
Sometimes  a  decision  meeting  was  held  where  girls 
determined  to  follow  Christ  and  ''come  out  on  the 
Lord's  side.'*  The  power  of  the  meeting  was  often 
inverse  to  the  self  confidence  of  the  leader,  just  as  it 
was  often  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  town. 

Indispensable  to  the  gospel  meeting  was  the  invita- 
tion committee,  thus  charted  in  the  first  model  consti- 
tution adopted  by  most  of  the  Associations  of  that  era. 
"The  Committee  on  Invitation  shall  seek  to  promote 
the  attendance  of  young  women  at  the  rooms  and  meet- 
ings of  the  Association  by  personal  solicitation  and  dis- 
tribution of  invitations  and  in  every  other  available 
way."  These  available  waj^s  measured  the  ingenuity 
and  the  consecration  of  the  committee. 

When  Associations  grew  larger  and  multiplied  de- 


'J 


70      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

partments,  the  religious  emphasis  was  more  dis- 
tributed, yet  in  certain  cities,  as  Aurora,  Detroit, 
Omaha,  and  Harlem,  one  felt  that  she  had  not  really 
visited  the  Associations,  unless  she  had  met  with  them 
on  Sunday  afternoon.  The  preliminary  circle  of 
prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  the  meeting,  the  decora- 
tions of  the  assembly  room,  the  ushering,  the  reception 
committee,  the  leader  of  the  singing,  the  choral  class 
in  evidence  as  choir,  the  cordial  presiding  officer,  the 
speaker  of  the  afternoon  (usually  a  prominent  Chris- 
tian worker  from  within  or  without  the  city),  the 
audience  of  members,  friends,  and  strangers  and  the 
after  meeting,  strengthened  the  belief  that  Christ  him- 
self is  the  solution  of  every  girl's  every  problem,  and 
that  it  is  the  business  of  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  to  help  girls  find  this  out. 

A  hospitality  offered  for  many  years  by  the  Brook- 
lyn Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was  the 
Sunday  evening  supper  after  the  Bible  class,  to  which 
thirty-five  guests  remained  each  week  after  the  gen- 
eral social  hour  which  followed  the  assembly  room 
service.  The  vesper  tea  of  Association  House, 
Chicago,  played  a  great  part  in  the  history  of  the 
Sunday  meetings,  and  these  two  examples  other  Asso- 
ciations have  imitated,  though  frequently  the  break- 
ing of  bread  together  could  mean  little  more  than  a 
social  cup  of  tea  and  a  sandwich  or  wafer. 

As  to  the  early  Bible  classes,  they  were  of  two  kinds. 
One  was  the  open  Bible  class  where  a  text  book  or 
printed  outline  might  or  might  not  be  used,  but  where 
there  was  always  an  opportunity  for  the  members  to 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  71 

answer  and  ask  questions  based  upon  a  study  of  a 
prescribed  topic  or  portion  of  Scripture  assigned  for 
the  lesson.  The  class  period  was  usually  some  week 
day  evening  hour,  the  teacher  some  earnest  but  prob- 
ably self  taught  Bible  student  and  the  attendance  at 
the  class  large  or  small,  dependent  almost  entirely 
upon  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  Slich  Bible 
classes  have  had  the  most  direct  evangelistic  results. 
Out  of  one  class  in  Connecticut  where  the  average  at- 
tendance for  four  years  was  twenty-five,  it  was  said 
that  twenty-three  had  become  Christians,  and  many 
others  were  brought  back  into  Christian  allegiance. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Worker 's  Training  Class  was 
preferably  small,  composed  of  women  of  spiritual  ex- 
perience who  wanted  to  do  the  work  of  personal 
evangelism.  Upon  most  of  the  early  convention  pro- 
grams this  subject  was  placed  to  be  treated  by  the 
strongest  person  available.  The  names  of  Mr.  C.  K. 
Ober,  Mr.  L.  Wilbur  Messer  and  Mr.  John  E.  Mott 
appear  in  this  connection.  The  latter  thus  defined  a 
Worker's  Bible  Training  class  as  **a  class  which  en- 
ables Christians  by  special  Bible  studies  and  by  actual 
participation  in  personal  work  to  lead  others  one  by 
one  to  Christ. ' '  Because  of  its  confidential  character, 
this  class  was  almost  invariably  led  by  the  general 
secretary;  manuals  were  used  which  had  been  pub- 
lished by  these  men  and  others. 

Once  a  month  the  missionary  meeting  might  be 
found  on  the  topic  cards  for  the  Sunday  afternoon. 
If  the  meetings  were  notoriously  poor  they  occurred 


72      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

less  often,  if  they  were  notably  good,  ten  or  twelve  a 
year  were  not  too  many.  In  states  where  the  recog- 
nized leaders  were  Student  Volunteers  for  the  foreign 
field  who  after  reaching  their  appointed  posts  kept  up 
a  large  personal  correspondence,  missionary  spirit  was 
easily  cultivated.  Kansas  and  Michigan  and  Illinois 
owe  much  to  Jennie  Sherman,  Annie  Laurie  Adams, 
Jean  and  Nellie  Dick,  Emma  Silver,  Bernice  Hunting, 
Belle  Richards  and  Eula  Bates  in  this  connection. 

Not  until  1894  after  the  formation  of  the  World's 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  did  mission- 
ary giving  focus  upon  distinctly  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  objects.  That  was  after  Miss 
R.  F.  Morse  had  begun  to  collect  money  for  the  sup- 
port of  work  done  by  American  secretaries  on  the  for- 
eign field  and  by  the  first  general  secretary  of  the 
World's  Committee,  herself  an  American. 

About  the  year  1900  there  seemed  a  great  enlarge- 
ment of  religious  activities  throughout  all  the  city 
Associations.  Such  as  had  been  content  with  one  or 
two  small  classes  were  multiplying  these  to  meet  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  Bible  students.  Drop-in 
classes  were  held  at  the  noon  hour ;  clubs  were  organ- 
ized which  gave  the  first  part  of  the  evening  to  Bible 
study.  Women's  morning  classes  were  securing  the 
leadership  of  the  best  Bible  students  among  the  pas- 
tors and  whole  departments  were  succeeding  the  single 
committee  which  had  been  expected  to  carry  this  es- 
sential burden.  More  Associations  began  to  call  em- 
ployed officers  to  administer  this  department  under 
the  title  of  Bible  Secretary  or  Religious  Work  Di- 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  73 

rector,  retaining  elsewhere  the  former  title  of  Chap- 
lain. In  such  capacities  Charlotte  H.  Adams  had 
come  to  Pittsburgh  in  1894  and  Dr.  Anna  L.  Brown 
to  Boston  in  1899. 

Even  if  the  first  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ation had  not  undertaken  to  help  young  women  find 
places  in  which  to  work  they  would  have  been  asked 
to  do  it  both  by  the  young  women  and  by  the  general 
public.  Yet  probably  in  no  other  department  has 
there  been  expressed  more  lively  dissatisfaction  than 
here,  because  in  securing  a  position  for  an  applicant 
there  is  a  double  obligation :  the  bureau  hopes  to  sat- 
isfy both  the  employer  and  employee;  repeatedly 
neither  is  satisfied.  Even  in  the  best  administered 
offices  this  is  bound  to  happen,  since  many  applicants 
are  not  qualified  by  health,  training  or  disposition  to 
earn  a  respectable  weekly  wage,  but  they  and  their 
friends  are  sure  **the  society  ought  to  do  something 
for  them,"  because  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  name  includes  the  word  Christian,  and 
they  return  after  each  failure  not  disappointed  in 
themselves,  but  a  little  critical  of  the  society  which 
has  disappointed  them.  Otherwise  keen-sighted  peo- 
ple are  often  slow  to  appraise  the  market  value  of  the 
working  capacities  of  dependent  members  of  their 
own  families.  Since  the  only  permanent  employed 
officer  in  many  of  the  early  Associations  was  the  ma- 
tron of  the  boarding  home,  whose  waking  hours  were 
filled  with  discharging  her  first  duties  to  the  residents, 
volunteer  committees  on  employment  kept  certain 


74       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

hours  at  the  Employment  Bureau,  meeting  would-be 
employers,  and  girls  and  women  looking  for  work, 
all  the  while  depending  upon  the  records  on  the  desk 
for  continuity  of  treatment.  This  method,  which 
seems  so  haphazard  and  lamentably  unscientific  as  to 
be  wholly  inadequate,  had  at  least  two  arguments  in 
its  favor.  The  ladies  of  the  committee  and  board 
knew  as  individuals  the  exact  situation  with  which  they 
as  an  organization  were  trying  to  cope,  and  further, 
there  was  a  personal  acquaintance  revealing  sympathy 
and  desire  to  help,  which  often  reached  a  happy  out- 
come even  if  not  the  outcome  either  had  at  first  an- 
ticipated. Many  a  girl  who  came  to  learn  ''how  to 
make  a  living"  has  found  through  the  employment 
bureau  "how  to  make  a  life.'*  Mrs.  E.  P.  Terhune, 
president  of  the  Women's  Christian  Association  of 
Newark,  New  Jersey,  read  a  paper  at  the  Pittsburgh 
conference  in  1875,  pleading  for  the  moral  courage 
in  American  families  to  have  the  daughters  taught 
some  useful  trade,  not  profession,  to  be  selected  with 
wise  regard  to  her  taste  and  aptitude.  So  much  more 
difficult  was  it  also  considered  to  find  places  for  teach- 
ers, governesses,  saleswomen,  seamstresses,  etc.,  than 
for  domestic  helpers  that  Philadelphia,  New  York  and 
other  Associations  exerted  all  their  energies  within 
these  and  similar  occupations,  leaving  the  other  plac- 
ings  to  agencies  already  established.  Certain  other 
Associations  held,  however,  that  many  of  the  existing 
agencies  were  commercial  and  that  the  Association 
had  more  to  give  an  applicant  than  a  mere  statement 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  75 

of  how  many  there  were  in  the  family  and  the  weekly 
remuneration  she  might  expect. 

Contrasts  between  labor  conditions  in  the  home  and 
out  of  the  home  were  constantly  discussed  and  philoso- 
phies were  based  upon  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  both.  One  analysis  of  the  domestic  worker's 
position  was  made  in  1873  with  the  greatest  frank- 
ness. **It  must  be  admitted  that  the  amount  of  ab- 
solute labor  required  of  a  housemaid  is  often  entirely 
disproportioned  to  her  strength.  Think  of  a  single 
girl  doing  the  washing  and  ironing  for  a  family  of 
ten  people,  more  than  half  of  whom  are  adults;  and 
at  the  same  time,  with  only  the  help  of  a  nurse  girl, 
who  must  be  ready  to  take  baby  at  any  time,  doing 
all  the  other  work  of  the  family,  the  cooking,  sweep- 
ing, scrubbing,  dusting,  washing  dishes  and  tending. 
To  do  this  she  must  begin  work  two  hours  before  male 
laborers,  and  continue  at  it  until  two  hours  after 
they  are  through,  unless  she  be  one  of  the  exception- 
ally quick  handed.  For  this  she  is  fortunate  if  she 
receives  the  sum  of  three  dollars  per  week,  an  amount 
entirely  inadequate  to  the  amount  of  service  rendered. 
Why,  even  the  washing  and  ironing  of  such  a  family 
is  of  itself  enough  to  occupy  a  girl  for  full  three  days 
in  the  week,  if  the  labor  were  as  equally  parcelled  out 
to  her  as  it  is  by  the  contractor  to  his  men  who  sweep 
the  streets.  The  sewing  machine  has  added  im- 
mensely to  the  work  of  the  laundress  in  multiplying 
tucks  and  puffs  and  ruffles.  The  complications  of 
trimming  with  which  even  one  garment  is  adorned, 


76      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

require  as  much  time  in  crimping  and  pressing  and 
fluting  as  would  have  served  for  half  an  ironing  in 
an  old  fashioned  family.  If  we  are  told  that  pecuni- 
ary circumstances  will  not  justify  the  employment  of 
a  laundress,  or  indeed  of  any  more  expenditure  in 
the  direction  of  help,  we  inquire,  why  must  restric- 
tions in  expense  be  confined  to  this  particular  depart- 
ment of  a  home?  If  clean  clothing,  well  cooked  food 
and  prompt  and  orderly  service  is  a  necessity  why 
not  curtail  from  the  luxuries  in  order  to  secure  it? 
We  think  there  will  have  to  be  concessions  before  we 
can  expect  cheerful  and  contented  helpers  in  our  fam- 
ilies. The  drudgeries  will  have  to  be  provided  for, 
even  if  it  be  at  the  expense  of  indulgence  in  other  di- 
rections.*' It  is  humiliating  to  realize  that  forty 
years  later  this  is  still  an  unstandardized  occupation, 
although  the  Commission  on  Domestic  Service  ap- 
pointed by  the  National  Board  to  report  at  the  Con- 
vention of  1915  showed  that  it  was  not  disregarded. 

All  the  three  earliest  Associations  carried  on  work 
for  a  couple  of  years  before  a  boarding  house  was 
opened  and  in  this  time  were  mindful  of  that  clause 
in  their  constitution  about  aiding  young  women  **in 
the  selection  of  suitable  boarding  places,"  but  there 
was  a  basic  conviction  in  the  hearts  of  members  of 
the  administrative  boards  that  to  provide  a  Christian 
home  for  girls  was  an  obligation  they  might  not  long 
postpone. 

The  story  of  how  the  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion of  St.  Louis  achieved  its  end  might  almost  be  a 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  77 

chapter  from  the  recording  secretary's  minutes  or 
the  annual  report  of  any  of  the  pioneer  Associations. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  lease  a  building  suit- 
able both  to  the  wants  of  a  large  growing  city  and  to 
the  financial  ability  of  the  Association.  A  new  build- 
ing with  a  sunny  corner  exposure  presented  itself. 
It  contained  about  thirty  rooms;  there  was  a  dining 
room  extending  the  width  of  the  building,  also  pantry, 
laundry,  cellars,  etc.  In  order  for  the  unincorporated 
society  to  be  able  to  secure  the  house  for  a  year,  a 
gentleman  interested  offered  to  take  the  lease  from 
the  landlord  and  receive  the  rent  from  the  board  as 
it  could  be  raised.  An  appeal  which  was  then  sent  to 
the  Protestant  churches  asking  each  to  furnish  one 
or  more  rooms  met  with  so  prompt  a  response  that  in 
a  month  the  home  was  formally  opened.  Inspection 
showed  parlor  and  library  at  the  left  of  the  main  en- 
trance, on  the  right  an  office  and  a  sewing  room.  For 
the  equipment  of  the  sewing  room  two  loaves  of  cake 
had  been  sold  **0n  'Change'*  and  four  sewing  ma- 
chines (Wheeler  &  Wilson,  Singer,  Florence,  Grover 
and  Baker)  had  been  donated.  The  many  bedrooms 
were  ''furnished  in  a  becomingly  neat  and  homelike 
manner,  the  walls  hung  with  pictures,  the  mantels 
ornamented  with  vases,  the  black  walnut  sets  of  fur- 
niture cosily  set  in,  the  table  with  its  bright  covering, 
the  beds  faultlessly  white,  all  speak  of  comfort  if  not 
of  luxury."  Within  eight  months  one  hundred  and 
nine  boarders  were  received,  of  whom  twenty-three 
were  seamstresses,  ten  were  students,  and  the  others 
variously  employed.    The  reference  committee  gave 


78      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

preference  to  the  younger  girls  as  permanent  resi- 
dents, and  the  price  of  board  ranged  from  three  and 
a  half  to  five  dollars.  Change  and  lack  of  work  made 
the  income  uncertain,  especially  in  the  summer,  and 
the  Executive  Committee  asked  for  a  contingent  fund 
to  relieve  specific  needs,  since  some  of  the  members 
of  the  family  were  left  at  times  without  means  of 
support  except  a  share  of  the  orders  which  came  in 
to  the  sewing  room  as  piece  work. 

For  purposes  of  administration  in  this  boarding 
home  in  St.  Louis  there  were  at  first  committees  on 
the  Home,  Admission,  Supply,  Visiting,  Lectures,  etc. 
The  first  September  there  was  added  a  Committee  on 
Social  and  Intellectual  Culture  which  assisted  in  or- 
ganizing '*a  club  for  intellectual  improvement  by 
means  of  reading,  etc.,*'  which  met  each  week  in  the 
parlor,  and  arranged  social  functions  for  members  and 
friends.  There  was  also  a  Religious  Committee,  al- 
though the  chief  religious  service  was  house  prayers 
conducted  each  evening  after  supper  by  the  superin- 
tendent, Mrs.  Shepard  Wells.  Frequently  a  city  pas- 
tor took  charge  of  the  devotional  hour. 

Winter  homes  began  to  be  a  necessity,  but  summer 
homes  were  a  luxury.  The  first  venture  of  this  kind 
was  made  in  1874  by  Philadelphia.  Its  long  cher- 
ished hope  for  an  Association  residence  offering  rest 
and  recreation  during  the  summer  months  was  sud- 
denly realized  when  Mr.  James  A.  Bradley  donated 
a  lot  at  Asbury  Park,  New  Jersey,  one  of  the  favorite 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  79 

beaches  of  the  Atlantic  Coast,  only  a  short  ride  dis- 
tant from  Philadelphia.  Prompt  measures  were 
taken  to  erect  a  building  and  that  very  season  *'Sea 
Rest ' '  was  opened.  Later  additions  enabled  the  house 
to  accommodate  one  hundred  and  twelve  guests  and 
as  the  usual  stay  was  limited  to  two  weeks  and  the 
inclusive  price  for  board  was  little  over  three  dollars 
a  week,  many  hundreds  of  women  every  year  were 
able  to  enjoy  the  sea  air  and  ocean  bathing,  to  whom 
a  sea  side  visit  or  even  a  change  from  city  life  would 
otherwise  have  been  virtually  impossible.  On  Conan- 
icut  Island  in  Narragansett  Bay  the  Providence  As- 
sociation leased  two  farm  houses  in  1878  and  fur- 
nished them  for  a  vacation  home  conducted  on  much 
the  same  plan.  In  some  Associations  parties  were 
made  up  to  go  to  Vacation  Lodges  for  week  ends,  or 
for  a  longer  stay. 

Rest  Cottage,  which  the  heroic  invalid  Jennie  Cas- 
siday  founded  and  bequeathed  to  the  Women 's  Chris- 
tian Association  of  Louisville,  was  like  the  others  in 
its  aim  to  be  a  house  for  which  Christ  was  the  recog- 
nized head.  She  herself  used  each  week  to  send  a 
letter  here  to  be  read  after  Sunday  morning  prayers, 
and  in  this  was  always  a  bit  of  Bible  exposition  which 
she  had  worked  out  in  hours  of  pain  and  thought,  or 
as  in  this  one  case,  had  quoted  from  another:  *'In 
Galatians,  the  fifth  chapter,  one  reads  of  the  fruit  of 
the  spirit.  Love  is  the  first  thing  and  all  else  can  be 
put  into  it.  Joy  is  love  exulting ;  peace  is  love  in  re- 
pose; long  suffering  is  love  on  trial;  gentleness  is 


80      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

love  in  society;  goodness  is  love  in  action;  faith  is 
love  on  the  battlefield ;  meekness  is  love  at  school,  and 
temperance  is  love  in  training," 

The  personal  element  which  pervaded  this  Vacation 
House  has  also  been  felt  in  the  Summer  Cottage  of  the 
Milwaukee  Association  at  Genesee  Lake,  AVisconsin, 
which  Mr.  Walter  Lindsay  put  up  in  1896  in  memory 
of  his  wife,  Mary  KJQOwles,  one  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers in  Milwaukee.  With  its  fifty  acres  of  land  it  is 
what  might  be  called  a  **self  contained"  estate,  for 
rowing,  swimming,  tramping  and  extensive  nature 
study  may  be  enjoyed  without  leaving  the  premises. 

Amazing  discoveries  were  made  from  time  to  time 
by  every  group  of  people  who  thought  at  all  on  what 
people  are  pleased  to  call  Association  problems.  One 
discovery  was  that  not  so  large  a  proportion  of  non- 
residents in  comparison  to  real  citizens  as  had  been 
superficially  supposed  made  use  of  even  the  privileges 
of  the  Association,  to  say  nothing  of  cooperating  in 
such  a  way  that  they  would  initiate  further  privileges 
which  might  be  still  further  extended.  Dependent 
upon  this  is  the  second  discovery,  namely,  that  there 
are  not,  as  reckoned  by  the  census,  as  many  non-resi- 
dent as  citizen  young  women  in  the  majority  of  cities. 
If  these  discoveries  were  made  by  the  board  or  ac- 
cepted by  them,  which  for  practical  purposes  is  all 
the  same,  their  attention  was  paid  to  young  women 
who  did  not  need  shelter,  as  generously  as  it  was  af- 
forded those  for  whom  this  led  the  train  of  necessi- 
ties.   Boston  recognized  this  when  the  Beach  Street 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  81 

houses  were  opened  and  the  dining  room  was  con- 
ducted on  the  restaurant  plan  open  to  outsiders,  but 
since  that  same  dining  room  must  cater  to  the  resident 
family,  it  fell  so  far  short  in  that  requirement  that 
when  the  Warrenton  Street  home  was  opened  the  fam- 
ily table  was  made  the  unit.  The  early  Associations 
were  too  simply  organized  and  too  insufficiently 
equipped  to  meet  the  four  separate  issues  which  must 
be  faced  between  eleven  and  two  o'clock  daily  by 
an  Association  actually  satisfying  its  natural  constit- 
uency, which  calls  for  a  large  central  lunch  room  with 
rapid  service  and  low  prices  to  accommodate  girls  who 
are  down  town  every  day  and  want  to  make  their  noon 
hour  reach  around  luncheon  and  errands;  a  well  ap- 
pointed lunch  room  with  attractive  menu  and  service 
for  people  who  are  willing  to  spend  time  and  money 
to  obtain  them  and,  like  to  find  them  in  the  Association ; 
a  seven  days  in  the  week  dining  room  arranged  as  to 
hours  of  meals  and  other  features  for  transient  guests 
whose  rooms  may  be  in  the  same  building  or  in  private 
homes  in  the  neighborhood;  and  besides  these,  the 
family  table  of  the  Association  residence,  where  menu,  ^ 
service,  grace  at  meals,  personal  acquaintance  and  con- 
versation are  such  as  might  be  found  in  any  Christian 
household  and  can  be  observed  here  even  though  this 
be  a  family  of  forty.  Much  of  the  bitter  criticism 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  which, 
so  far  as  the  public  press  is  concerned,  is  usually  lim- 
ited to  the  boarding  home,  comes  from  trying  to  unite 
these  four  features  with  one  dining  room,  one  matron 
and  one  domestic  staff. 


82      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

The  first  conspicuous  attempt  to  afford  a  woman  ^s 
hotel  to  distinctly  transient  guests  was  made  by  the 
New  York  City  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion in  1891,  when  the  ** Margaret  Louisa"  was  opened 
at  14  East  16th  Street.  The  beautiful  building  con- 
tained rooms  for  seventy  young  women,  a  restaurant 
seating  one  hundred  and  twelve  and  was  given  en- 
tirely equipped,  by  the  one  donor,  Mrs.  Elliott  F. 
Shepard. 

When  the  Philadelphia  boarding  home  department 
was  well  under  way  a  lodging  home  under  another 
roof  was  added  and  a  restaurant  was  opened  in  1872, 
which  was  visited  within  a  year  by  one  hundred  or 
more  girls  and  women  each  noon.  A  substantial  din- 
ner of  meat  and  vegetables  was  served  for  from  ten 
to  twenty  cents  or  soup  with  bread  at  a  charge  of  five 
cents.  One  day  when  a  record  was  kept  it  was  found 
that  forty-three  persons  had  secured  a  meal  for  five 
cents  and  the  other  seventy-one  had  dined  at  an  aver- 
age price  of  not  more  than  seven  or  eight  cents.  After 
a  time  one  comer  of  the  room  was  railed  in,  carpeted 
and  supplied  with  reading  matter  and  made  into  a 
pleasant  waiting  or  lounging  place. 

At  its  very  organization  in  1883  Baltimore  decided 
to  offer  both  mental  and  physical  food,  and  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  secure  rooms  were  charged  to  find 
such  as  were  suitable  for  reading  room,  lunch  room 
and  kitchen.  In  less  than  two  months  these  rooms 
were  found  in  the  central  part  of  the  city  and  scores 
of  girls  had  enjoyed  the  savory  meals,  the  few  min- 
utes' peaceful  loitering  in  the  bright  cozy  parlor 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  83 

where  newspapers,  magazines,  and  books  were  at  hand, 
and  the  personal  acquaintance  with  members  of  the 
employment  and  lunch  committees  who  were  always 
present.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  five  years  later 
when  the  Baltimore  Association  had  entered  its  new 
building  it  referred  to  these  first  quarters  as  the 
shabby  upper  room,  approached  through  a  dark  alley 
up  a  rickety  flight  of  outside  steps,  where  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  established  herself,  a 
veritable  Cinderella  among  her  elder  sisters,  treated 
with  contempt  by  many  of  those  whom  she  wished  to 
serve. 

Perhaps  the  credit  of  naming  this  combination  of 
luncheon  with  other  features  may  be  awarded  to 
Poughkeepsie,  which  in  1886  described  its  *'Noon 
Hour  Rest"  as  a  place  *^  where  neatly  spread  lunch 
tables  are  in  readiness  every  noon  from  twelve  to  one 
o  'clock  for  the  accommodation  of  girls  who  bring  their 
lunch  to  their  places  of  employment.  Hot  coffee,  tea 
and  milk  are  served  at  a  very  small  fee.  From  its 
lunch  room  the  girls  bring  their  work  into  our  sunny 
pleasant  parlor,  where  music,  reading  and  conversa- 
tion make  the  noon  hour  the  shortest  of  the  day." 
Soon  the  Noon  Rest  had  swept  the  country ;  the  name 
was  popular,  the  idea  back  of  it  was  exactly  what 
many  had  been  looking  for — an  invitation  to  bring 
or  buy  luncheon  as  one  preferred  and  to  expect  to  re- 
main for  the  rest  of  the  noon  hour.  Concerts,  Bible 
classes,  popular  talks,  brief  programs  by  artists  en- 
tertaining in  the  city,  fancy  work  instruction,  every 
imaginable  Association  propaganda  could  be  intro- 


84       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

duced,  in  case  the  guest  could  finish  her  luncheon  in 
time  to  enjoy  some  of  these  features  and  get  back  to 
desk  or  counter  within  sixty  minutes. 

Private  school  alumnae  associations  helped  annihi- 
late the  time  difficulty  with  the  self  service  plan  called 
**  Cafeteria. "  Probably  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  was 
the  first  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  to  in- 
stall this  system,  modelled  after  the  Ogontz  Club  in 
the  Pontiac  Building  in  Chicago,  and  its  neighbor, 
the  Wildwood  Club,  maintained  by  Miss  Kirkland's 
School.  The  room  first  opened  in  March,  1891,  and 
was  soon  exchanged  for  a  larger  one,  where  the  mem- 
bers passed  between  the  brass  rail  and  the  counter, 
studied  the  menu  poster,  selected  tray,  cold  foods, 
hot  foods,  waited  for  the  penciled  check,  spread  the 
table,  ate  and  talked,  carried  back  dishes  and  paid 
their  way  out  at  the  other  door  in  the  same  time  they 
would  ordinarily  have  spent  waiting  for  a  table  and 
the  return  of  the  waitress  with  the  food  they  had 
ordered.  The  novelty  attracted  attention,  small  cit- 
ies with  limited  equipment  and  few  departments  of 
wide  appeal  could  do  a  service  to  the  women  of  the 
town  which  was  readily  appreciated,  and  the  small 
expense  of  supervision  and  labor  made  it  pay  almost 
without  exception. 

**To  have  a  good  time,  to  get  to  know  each  other" 
— these  were  the  goals  to  which  the  social  department 
committees  set  their  united  front,  even  when  an  As- 
sociation was  so  small  that  one  person  as  a  committee 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  85 

of  the  whole  planned  most  of  the  good  times  and  the 
members  already  knew  each  other. 

A  cardinal  point  of  the  Association  compass  was 
the  feeling  against  calling  entertainments  for  revenue 
only,  social  affairs.  If  the  scheme  for  such  had  arisen 
in  the  finance  committee  or  in  a  ways  and  means  com- 
mittee hoping  for  a  new  building  or  despairing  over 
an  old  mortgage,  to  such  committee  should  belong  the 
labor  and  glory  of  putting  it  through.  Both  labor 
and  glory  were  of  a  surety  involved  in  such  mammoth 
manoeuvres  as  the  Exposition  of  Authors  in  St.  Louis 
in  1875,  and  the  Great  Bazaar  which  the  New  York 
Association  held  ten  years  later  in  the  Academy  of 
Music,  opened  by  the  chairman,  Mrs.  D.  H.  McAlpin, 
and  the  Governor  of  the  State,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  for 
which  Mr.  R.  C.  Morse  was  chairman  of  the  Press 
Committee,  and  which  printed  a  daily  paper  to  which 
Bryant,  Holmes,  Holland  and  other  eminent  authors 
contributed. 

Entertainments  in  which  members  took  part  or  to 
which  membership  tickets  admitted  them,  or  which 
collected  a  small  sum  for  delegates^  expenses,  some- 
thing for  which  no  appeal  was  made  to  the  outside 
public,  and  yet  from  which  the  young  women  gained 
real  pleasure,  were  not  barred  out  of  this  category, 
as  the  returns  were  measured  by  a  good  time,  not  by 
increased  funds.  Holidays  have  always  been  scrupu- 
lously observed  and  the  best  publicity  on  behalf  of 
membership  was  found  to  be  the  souvenirs  which 
girls  carried  home   from   Hallowe'en   or   Valentine 


86       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

festivities  and  exhibited  to  their  friends  the  next 
day. 

But  the  Associations  kept  growing  larger  and  the 
social  committees  which  had  been  arranging  one  gath- 
ering each  month  and  worrying  over  the  budget  basis 
therefor,  realized  that  the  occasions  most  enjoyed  were 
not  those  when  they  had  tried  to  cater  to  the  entire 
membership,  although  their  concept  of  democracy 
tried  so  to  convince  them.  The  times  most  keenly 
enjoyed  were  the  social  hours  in  connection  with  some 
regular  work  through  which  girls  had  begun  to  know 
each  other,  and  whose  acquaintance  could  be  deep- 
ened, where  newcomers  could  be  welcomed  into  a  cir- 
cle which  they  would  meet  again  and  again.  The  pic- 
nic supper  of  the  bicycle  club,  the  birthday  party  for 
a  teacher  or  secretary,  the  celebration  for  which 
guests  were  invited  to  the  boarding  home,  all  these 
could  be  planned  for  by  the  participants  with  as  much 
hilarity  as  was  actually  enjoyed  on  the  evening  in 
question,  and  the  social  committee  proper  could  con- 
centrate on  the  large  affairs.  The  lunch  room 
equipment  was  put  to  use,  and  banquets  brought  out 
the  members  for  the  annual  business  meeting  of  the 
Association.  Open  house  on  New  Year's  Day  or  on 
Washington's  Birthday  was  a  time  for  cooperating 
with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Sum- 
mer picnics  in  parks  and  winter  picnics  in  gymnasi- 
ums— every  season  was  utilized. 

A  new  conception  of  democracy  was  acknowledged. 
That  democracy  in  which  girls  could  plan  their  good 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  87 

times  in  connection  with  their  classes  led  on  to  the 
clubs,  where  working  together  made  a  short  cut  to 
a  new  social  life,  or  playing  together.  Outside  of  the 
Girls'  Branches,  where  the  children's  office-holding 
had  the  club  flavor,  the  first  real  self  governing  club 
may  have  been  that  resulting  from  Miss  Grace  H. 
Dodge's  visit  to  Baltimore  in  1887.  In  the  Harlem 
Association  in  1894  the  prevailing  spirit  seemed  to 
be  club  spirit,  for  that  year  the  Birthday  Building 
Club,  the  Literary  Club,  and  the  Annex  Choral  Club 
all  voted  themselves  into  life,  to  be  followed  in  1895 
by  the  Colgate  Chrysanthemum  Club,  which  either 
because  of  its  brilliant  name,  or  of  the  relation  held 
to  it  by  IVIiss  R.  F.  Morse,  who  had  been  associated  in 
club  life  with  Miss  Dodge,  seemed  to  hold  the  front 
of  the  platform  for  many  years. 

In  the  days  when  there  were  no  free  public  li- 
braries, and  memberships  in  corporate  libraries  or 
rentals  for  books  were  costly,  in  the  days  when  there 
were  no  free  evening  schools,  in  the  days  when  there 
was  no  available  trade  or  technical  instruction  for 
girls,  in  the  days  when  household  arts  had  not  been 
academically  formulated,  the  Christian  Association, 
which  recognized  mental  culture  as  a  necessity  in  the 
whole  development  of  young  womanhood,  undertook 
to  collect  libraries,  teach  English  branches  and  gen- 
eral subjects,  provide  classes  preparing  the  pupils  for 
self  support,  and  gather  the  untrained  into  classes  in 
sewing,  cooking  and  other  domestic  accomplishments. 
But  even  when  these  educational  agencies  appeared 


88       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

in  community  after  community  the  city  Associations 
had  still  their  task  before  them  in  making  books  ac- 
cessible to  busy  girls,  or  cultivating  or  guiding  the-ir 
choice  in  reading;  in  supplying  evening  classes  at  the 
hours  when  employed  young  women  could  attend,  and 
for  such  blocks  of  time  as  they  could  devote  to  study, 
also  in  stimulating  them  to  begin  and  heartening  them 
to  continue ;  in  studying  the  labor  market  and  opening 
classes  from  which  graduates  could  reasonably  hope 
to  go  into  occupations  for  which  they  had  showed  nat- 
ural aptitude ;  and  in  seizing  the  first  opportunity  to 
secure  teachers  of  the  common  household  subjects 
which  everybody  declared  all  girls  should  understand, 
but  for  teaching  which  no  provision  had  apparently 
ever  been  made. 

For  many  years  the  word  ** Library,"  as  applied 
to  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  custom- 
arily presented  to  the  mental  vision  a  room  contain- 
ing shelves  and  a  table  for  reading  matter,  not  a  col- 
lection of  books  for  which  shelf  space  had  been  pro- 
vided. Lacking  a  library  endowment,  the  supply  of 
books  depended  upon  occasional  ''book  socials"  where 
friends  cheerfully  parted  with  books  they  thought 
girls  ought  to  read,  because  they  knew  they  them- 
selves did  not  wish  to  read  them,  or  upon  spasmodic 
efforts  of  the  library  committee  to  secure  the  price 
of  a  certain  new  book  from  an  individual  donor. 
Lacking  a  librarian  the  distribution  was  restricted  too 
often  to  fixed  hours  of  attendance  by  the  library  com- 
mittee, hours  which  were  not  always  frequent  enough 
to  accommodate  many  people  whose  weekly  visits  to 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  80 

the  building  might  not  coincide  with  them,  though  for 
those  who  could  attend  it  was  very  satisfactory.  The 
other  method,  free  access  to  the  shelves  at  all  times 
by  the  patrons,  who  selected  their  own  books  and 
made  note  of  such  as  they  withdrew,  resulted  in  a 
more  general  use.  More  books  were  taken  out  and 
vastly  more  failed  to  come  back. 

Just  as  a  pleasing  notion  once  prevailed  that  or- 
ganized Christian  work  for  young  women  could  be 
postponed  until  the  young  men  of  a  city  had  been 
adequately  and  permanently  taken  care  of  in  these 
respects,  so  there  seemed  to  be  an  unwritten  declara- 
tion of  confidence  that  any  girl  who  would  be  at- 
tracted to  a  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
by  a  library  was  of  such  serious  tastes  that  she  "did 
not  really  need  the  Association"  so  much  as  others, 
and  hence  efforts  that  might  have  built  up  a  library 
were  directed  toward  equipping  a  gymnasium  or  put- 
ting an  addition  on  the  boarding  home.  Occasional 
exceptions  to  this  state  of  things  were  York,  Penn- 
sylvania, among  the  smaller,  and  New  York  City 
among  the  larger  Associations. 

Go  teach  the  orphan  boy  to  read. 
The  orphan  girl  to  sew, 

was  the  scathing  advice  meted  out  to  Lady  Clara 
Vere  de  Vere  by  the  first  person  in  Tennyson's  poem. 
Not  the  orphan,  however,  but  the  Lady  Clara  was  to 
benefit  from  the  process,  and  so  in  the  primitive  years 
of  Association  education  where  a  class  was  formed  be- 
cause there  was  an  available  volunteer  teacher,  where 


90      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

there  was  no  thought  of  payment,  where  the  number 
of  lessons  in  the  term  depended  on  how  soon  a  class 
could  be  got  under  way,  and  how  long  the  teacher 
would  meet  the  class  or  could  hold  it  together,  the 
benefit  accruing  was  as  often  to  the  teacher  as  the 
class.  For  example,  a  tall  school  teacher  all  through 
a  long  cold  winter  regularly  met  a  class  in  which  a 
little  dressmaker  was  the  most  devoted  student.  By 
spring  the  dressmaker  had  found  her  chance  in  a  pre- 
paratory school  where  she  could  partly  earn  her  way, 
and  the  teacher  was  communicating  with  a  home  mis- 
sion board  concerning  a  new  sort  of  teaching.  Sta- 
tistical reports  would  have  been  too  voluminous  to 
print  if  all  the  similar  incidents  in  fifty  years  of  edu- 
cational classes  could  have  been  written  out. 

Without  question  common  English  branches  and 
fancy  needle  work  were  taught  to  small  groups  in  al- 
most every  city  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  many  of  those  which  bore  the  name  Women 's 
Christian  Association,  but  Boston  definitely  reports 
a  class  in  singing  the  first  year  (1866),  and  a  little 
later  classes  in  astronomy,  physiology,  penmanship, 
bookkeeping,  botany  and  history.  Leaving  at  one  side 
for  a  moment  the  trade  or  teachnical  classes,  we  find 
in  New  Haven  and  other  cities  classes  in  entertaining 
reading,  then  German,  current  events,  drawing,  Eng- 
lish literature.  First  Aid  to  the  Injured,  choir  music, 
elocution,  Latin,  and  French.  ]Most  of  the  Boston 
topics  are  repeated  here  and  there  except  astronomy. 
No  other  educational  committee  seemed  ever  to  have 
the  ambition  to  hitch  its  wagon  to  a  star.    As  work 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  91 

went  on  and  courses  were  more  definitely  outlined, 
fixed  school  terms,  class  fees,  paid  teachers,  both  day 
and  evening  sessions,  and  certificates  for  completed 
courses  were  gradually  introduced. 

But  it  is  in  the  realm  of  classes  in  which  students 
prepared  for  remunerative  positions  that  the  service 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  has  been 
most  hugely  appreciated  by  young  women,  and  by  the 
community  at  large.  The  need  for  encouraging  young 
women  to  fit  themselves  for  self  support  was  one  of 
the  first  lessons  borne  in  upon  employment  committees 
and  boards  of  directors,  and  they  determined  in  offer- 
ing such  classes  to  make  the  hours,  scope  of  work, 
rates,  and  all  circumstances  convenient  and  beneficial 
to  intending  students.  As  early  as  1868  bookkeeping 
was  taught  in  connection  with  penmanship.  The 
Civil  War  had  called  women  into  offices  and  clerical 
training  was  in  demand.  In  1874  Philadelphia  in- 
troduced telegraphy.  In  1880  New  York  City  made 
a  success  of  a  class  in  phonography,  the  practice  of 
which  in  connection  with  typewriting  was  said  to  be 
the  **most  remunerative  for  their  sex";  later  on  type- 
writing alone  was  advertised  with  the  explanation  that 
*'some  firms  prefer  typewriting  to  penmanship."  In 
1880  retouching  photograph  negatives  was  taught  and 
a  class  of  eight  competent  women  graduated,  then 
photo  coloring,  crayons,  and  India  ink  drawing,  and 
in  1884  technical  design  and  free  hand  enlarging. 

In  Boston  and  New  York  and  elsewhere  the  busi- 
ness branches  soon  grew  into  a  commercial  depart- 


92       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ment  or  mercantile  school.  After  eight  years  the 
superintendent  in  the  former  city  was  able  to  say 
they  had  as  yet  had  no  pupil  returned  to  them  as  in- 
competent. Care  was  always  taken  to  inculcate  a 
sense  of  the  responsibility  of  a  stenographer's  posi- 
tion and  the  confidential  nature  of  the  information 
of  her  employer's  affairs  which  she  possessed.  Most 
pronounced  has  been  the  success  of  the  art  department 
or  school  of  the  New  York  City  Association,  which 
in  course  of  time  offered  a  three  years'  course  fitting 
graduates  for  positions  in  numerous  fields  of  art  and 
applied  design.  Silver  and  gold  medals  have  repeat- 
edly been  given  this  Association  for  exhibits  at  In- 
ternational Pairs  and  Expositions  here  and  abroad. 

No  doubt  the  parallel  of  Lady  Clara  Vere  de  Vere  's 
efforts — if  she  did  make  the  attempt — to  teach  the 
orphan  girl  to  sew,  would  have  been  found  in  the 
many  industrial  schools  undertaken  by  churches  and 
missions  and  by  many  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions. But  the  instruction  in  sewing,  dressmaking, 
and  millinery  given  to  young  women  who  wished  this 
skill  as  a  personal  accomplishment,  or  a  means  of 
earning  a  living,  is  the  more  natural  theme  in  this 
study  of  Industrial  Education  in  the  Christian  As- 
sociation movement. 

If  the  Crystal  Palace .  Exhibition  of  1851  was  to 
have  a  permanent  effect  upon  industrial  and  mechan- 
ical arts,  there  was  also  an  American  event  of  that 
same  year  which  affected  women's  industrial  relations 
in  a  degree  previously  unbelievable.     This  was  the 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  98 

perfection  of  the  sewing  machine,  by  which  in  that 
one  year  Wheeler  &  Wilson  brought  out  the  circular 
bobbin  type,  Singer  the  vertical  needle  and  shuttle 
type,  and  Grover  and  Baker  the  double  needle  and 
two  spools  type  of  machine,  all  based  upon  certain 
of  the  original  features  which  Elias  Howe,  commonly 
called  *Hhe  father  of  the  sewing  machine,'*  had  pat- 
ented in  1846.  These  were  followed  in  1857  by  Wil- 
cox and  Gibbs'  single  thread  machines,  and  after 
1867,  when  royalties  were  removed,  many  others  ap- 
peared in  the  market.  Pessimistic  communications  of 
the  period  indicate  that  *' woman's  weapon,  the 
needle,'*  had  somehow  been  turned  against  her.  Ma- 
chines were  so  expensive  that  two  dollars  was  p^^id 
for  daily  rent  of  one,  if  a  seamstress  wished,  or  was 
obliged  to  cater  to  customers  who  looked  for  modish 
machine  stitching  instead  of  hand  sewing. 

In  every  boarding  home  where  the  occupations  of 
the  residents  were  enumerated  in  any  available  rec- 
ord, seamstresses  always  headed  the  list,  and  needle- 
women might  also  be  listed  under  other  classifications 
as  well,  when  they  were  machine  operators  upon  one 
specified  product,  such  as  vest  makers  and  cap  mak- 
ers. This  proportion  would  have  been  higher  if  the 
seamstresses,  who  were  given  room  and  board  during 
their  engagements  in  private  homes,  could  have  had 
rooms  over  Sunday  regularly  reserved  for  them  by 
the  Association  and  thus  have  been  enrolled,  but  there 
were  usually  so  many  applicants  for  the  full  seven 
days  of  the  week  that  any  two  day  plan  seemed  im- 
possible, although  the  hardship  it  worked  to  the  seam- 


94       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

stresses  was  recognized  by  the  Association  and  openly 
regretted.  The  sewing  room  in  the  St.  Louis  board- 
ing home  has  already  been  noted  as  one  means  in  help- 
ing the  seamstresses  to  keep  their  economic  footing 
in  these  perilous  transition  times. 

One  remembers  that  the  Ladies'  Christian  Union 
of  New  York  City  had  been  organized  twelve  years 
before  it  established  the  Young  Ladies'  Branch.  As 
was  both  desirable  and  inevitable,  maintenance  of 
their  Association  boarding  home  had  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  employment  bureau  and  this  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Branch,  which  endeavored  to  find  places 
for  teachers,  housekeepers,  first  class  seamstresses,  etc. 
More  than  this,  they  set  aside  quarters  for  a  fine 
needlework  department  for  which  were  donated  **One 
best  Wheeler  and  Wilson  sewing  machine  from  Hon- 
orable Peter  Cooper,  one  best  Singer  sewing  machine 
donated  from  the  French  Fair  by  the  subscription  of 
several  ladies,  one  Elliptic  best  sewing  machine  from 
St.  Luke's  department  of  the  Methodist  Fair  voted 
to  the  Association  by  numerous  friends."  A  dozen 
more  Elliptic  machines  were  furnished  by  a  gentleman 
who  also  gave  the  services  of  a  competent  teacher. 
In  February,  1872,  a  class  in  machine  sewing  began, 
which  later  on  graduated  thirty-two  members,  most 
of  whom  at  once  secured  good  positions.  That  fall 
Wheeler  and  Wilson  extended  a  similar  courtesy  in 
furnishing  machines  and  teachers,  but  later  on  the 
department  paid  its  instructors  and  bought  machines 
of  various  makes.  The  class  beginning  that  fall 
worked  four  hours  daily  for  four  weeks,  and  supple- 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  95 

mented  the  mechanical  instruction  with  a  hand  finish- 
ing course  in  order  to  learn  the  nicer  details  of  sew- 
ing and  become  fully  prepared  to  enter  families  as 
seamstresses.  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  taught  ma- 
chine operating  as  women  came  in  with  their  own 
sewing  to  the  rooms  for  a  social  evening.  German- 
town,  Pennsylvania,  conducted  a  sewing  school  regu- 
larly four  evenings  of  the  week  for  girls  employed  in 
mills  during  the  day. 

A  three  months'  period  of  instruction  from  8  A.  m. 
to  5  p.  M.  was  required  in  the  industrial  school  which 
the  Young  Ladies'  Branch  of  the  Cincinnati  Associa- 
tion conducted  at  this  time.  It  had  both  a  primary 
and  a  dressmaking  department.  Sewing  was  included 
in  the  curriculum  of  both  the  Boston  and  St.  Louis 
training  schools  and  out  of  sewing  classes  came  the 
students  for  the  dressmaking  classes,  and  the  cutting 
and  fitting  classes  with  costume  design  as  an  ultimate 
goal. 

While  ''almost  every  one''  could  teach  sewing  in 
popular  estimation,  if  she  were  herself  a  skilled  seam- 
stress and  dressmaker,  the  science  of  cooking  waited 
for  its  general  presentation  until  there  were  competent 
professional  teachers  of  the  subject. 

It  is  said  that  the  modern  form  of  instruction  in 
the  Household  Arts  sprang  from  the  renewed  inter- 
est in  all  these  lines  at  the  time  of  the  Centennial  Ex- 
position in  Philadelphia  in  1876,  but  cooking  had  been 
already  reduced  to  academic  terms  in  the  State  Agri- 
cultural College  of  Iowa  at  Ames  (1869),  in  the  Kan- 


96       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

sas  Agricultural  College  at  Manhattan,  and  in  the 
Illinois  Industrial  University  (later  the  University 
of  Illinois)  at  Urbana  in  1874.  Here  Lou  Allen 
(later  Mrs.  Gregory)  taught  household  science  in  the 
*' first  college  course  of  high  grade  in  the  United 
States,  if  not  in  the  world.*'  Eastern  progress  cen- 
tered around  distinguished  teachers  of  cooking  who 
began  as  lecturers  and  demonstrators.  One  of  these 
authorities  was  Juliet  Corson,  who  started  in  1874  a 
free  Training  School  for  Women  in  New  York  City. 
A  ladies'  cooking  class  was  formed  the  next  year  and 
in  1876  in  her  own  home  she  opened  the  New  York 
Cooking  School.  From  January  to  April,  1879,  there 
was  an  attendance  of  6,560  in  public  and  private 
classes  under  her  direction.  In  1877  she  copyrighted 
a  Cooking  School  Text  Book.  New  England  was  led 
in  this  movement  by  Maria  Parloa  who  lectured  in 
New  London  in  1876  and  in  Boston  in  1877,  opening 
that  fall  a  school  on  Tremont  Street.  The  next  year 
she  organized  a  Domestic  Science  department  in  La- 
sell  Seminary,  Auburndale,  Mass.,  and  the  following 
year  she  lectured  at  the  assembly  of  the  Chautauqua 
Literary  and  Scientific  Circle,  at  Chautauqua,  New 
York,  and  at  the  Boston  Cooking  School  which  had 
been  founded  that  same  year.  Its  principal  was  Mrs. 
D.  A.  Lincoln. 

Attention  has  already  been  given  to  the  instruction 
in  cooking  which  the  Boston  Association  in  1879  gave 
to  members  of  the  Training  School  for  Domestics,  also 
the  day  and  evening  classes  for  general  students,  and 
the  class  from  the  Winthrop  School  in  the  spring  of 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  97 

1880.  Educational  authorities  say  that  instruction  in 
household  subjects  in  Boston  was  at  its  start  supported 
by  private  funds  in  classes  outside  the  school,  and  the 
claim  that  this  Boston  Association  class  was  the  be- 
ginning of  cooking  lessons  in  the  Boston  public  schools 
has  never  been  disproved. 

In  the  city  of  St.  Louis  there  was  public  sentiment 
favoring  the  establishment  of  a  cooking  school,  and 
the  Association  had  been  hoping  and  working  for  a 
training  school  in  which  cooking  instruction  should 
find  a  place.  Consequently  at  their  invitation  Miss 
Corson  came  out  in  April,  1881,  and  gave  a  series  of 
ten  morning  and  afternoon  lessons  which  were  so 
well  attended  as  to  net  $1,200  for  the  Association 
treasury,  and  the  interest  in  cooking  as  a  domestic 
accomplishment  as  well  as  a  trade  was  extended.  By 
the  fall  of  1882  a  house  had  been  leased  and  various 
ladies  had  gathered  up  classes  from  among  their  own 
acquaintance  to  start  the  movement. 

Young  ladies'  cooking  clubs  in  the  early  eighties 
were  popular  social  functions  throughout  the  country 
and  many  of  the  Association  classes  were  more  social 
than  technical  in  character.  One  finds  records  that 
' '  six  brides-to-be ' '  or  * '  six  young  men  going  camping ' ' 
were  enrolled  here  and  there.  In  1887  there  were 
already  Association  classes  in  Cincinnati,  Worcester, 
Poughkeepsie  and  New  Haven,  usually  under  teachers 
trained  in  Boston.  The  Connecticut  city  held  a  course 
during  July  and  August  for  a  class  composed  of 
sixty-eight  pupils,  largely  girls  employed  by  the  day 
in  stores  and  factories. 


98       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

While  the  laboratory  method  was  partially  em- 
ployed, in  that  every  pupil  had  a  hand  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  food,  yet  individual  equipment  was  rarely 
introduced  before  the  late  nineties,  after  which  time 
it  was  considered  essential.  Milwaukee  made  an  in- 
novation by  including  a  model  apartment  of  parlor, 
bedroom,  dining  room  and  kitchen  in  its  building, 
dedicated  in  1901,  and  here  housekeeping  as  well  as 
cooking  could  be  properly  demonstrated. 

As  the  local  Associations  became  better  equipped 
they  were  in  a  position  to  receive  classes  in  dietetics 
from  nurses'  training  schools  and  other  public  insti- 
tutions. Up  to  the  present  time  (1916)  no  Associa- 
tion has  undertaken  to  give  complete  training  for 
nurses,  but  the  need  in  every  home  of  at  least  one 
member  able  to  give  something  better  than  the  over- 
devoted,  under-intelligent  care  of  the  sick  common 
in  most  families  has  led  many  Associations  to  offer 
a  trained  attendant's  course.  The  Brooklyn  Associa- 
tion gave  much  attention  to  discovering  new  types  of 
women's  work  and  in  1890  opened  a  course  of  train- 
ing to  fit  women  for  convalescent  and  chronic  cases 
as  a  salaried  occupation.  Dr.  Eliza  Mosher  and  other 
physicians  helped  lay  out  the  course  and  gave  part 
of  the  lectures.  Qualified  women  who  completed  the 
course  of  forty  lessons  were  able  even  at  first  to  secure 
salaries  of  from  eight  to  twelve  dollars  per  week. 
Others  discovered  their  own  talents  and  began  regu- 
lar hospital  training. 

While  it  would  be  a  gratification  to  study  the  mer- 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  99 

its  of  the  different  systems  of  physical  education,  and 
to  believe  that  the  various  Associations  discussed  these 
before  introducing  this  department,  yet  the  truth  is 
that  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  were 
largely  following  in  the  wake  of  all  sorts  of  influences 
and  practices  already  active  in  the  communities.  To 
some  people  physical  education  meant  gymnastics  as 
strenuously  exemplified  by  the  Turn  Vereins  of  the 
resident  German- Americans.  This  meant  to  them  a 
hall  with  heavy  apparatus,  acrobatic  feats  and  Sun- 
day parades.  To  others  it  meant  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  building  with  a  gymnasium, 
baths,  a  salaried  director  and  a  large  budget.  To 
many  others  it  meant  that  misconception  or  dilution 
or  caricature  of  Dr.  Dio  Lewis'  adaptation  of  the 
Swedish  free  movements  which  under  the  name  of 
** calisthenics"  appeared  on  the  daily  program  of  the 
public  schools.  This  succeeded  through  the  first  com- 
mands of  ** stand  up  straight,  shoulders  back,"  in 
curving  the  spines  of  the  executors  of  the  orders,  until 
the  violent  thumping  of  clenched  fists  upon  flat  little 
chests,  accompanied  by  vocal  counting  4-4  time,  had 
somewhat  counter-balanced  the  affliction.  To  some  a 
little  later  it  meant  *'Delsarte,"  which  being  com- 
monly interpreted  by  a  young  woman  who  had  ''taken 
a  course  of  lessons"  meant  throwing  the  weight  on 
the  ball  of  the  foot,  and  with  the  wrist  leading,  and 
the  eye  following  the  hand,  going  rhythmically  and 
to  soft,  slow,  sad  music,  through  classic  postures  of 
the  torso  where  must  be  strength,  and  angelic  wavings 
of  the  extremities  where  must  be  freedom. 


^ 


100       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

When  gymnasium  classes  were  formed  the  system 
adopted  depended  upon  the  physical  director  secured, 
and  the  extent  of  her  teaching  depended  upon  the 
place  which  was  called  gymnasium  and  the  amount 
of  equipment  it  could  or  did  contain.  Hope  Narey 
in  Boston,  Mary  S.  Dunn  in  Kansas  City,  and  Abby 
S.  Mayhew  in  Minneapolis  were  three  creative  phys- 
ical directors  to  whom  the  entire  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  movement  in  America  and 
abroad  owes  deference  and  gratitude.  As  Boston  had 
shown  ingenuity  in  fastening  up  chest  weights — the 
first  practical  developing  appliance  in  this  field — ^to 
the  doorways  of  a  boarding  home,  so  other  Associa- 
tions used  their  rented  rooms  in  such  a  way  that 
every  square  foot  of  floor  space  served  a  multiple  pur- 
pose, for  the  one  large  area  must  be  lunch  room  at 
noon,  assembly  hall  on  Sunday,  social  center  at  the 
demand  of  the  entertainment  committee  and  gym- 
nasium whenever  classes  were  scheduled. 

By  1887  Philadelphia,  Poughkeepsie,  and  New 
York  City  reported  classes  in  light  calisthenics  ac- 
companied by  the  piano.  The  next  year  Coldwater, 
Michigan,  and  Newburgh,  New  York,  had  the  same, 
but  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  had  fitted  up  a  room  for 
a  gymnasium  with  rings,  Indian  clubs,  dumb  bells, 
wands  and  a  chestweight.  Worcester  was  holding 
four  classes  weekly  in  **  physical  culture  including 
voice  training. '*  More  than  in  any  other  department 
democracy  was  felt  here.  A  gymnasium  suit  and 
team  play  obliterated  social  and  educational  parti- 
tions.   With  the  recognition  of  the  body  as  the  tern- 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  101 

pie  of  the  Holy  Spirit  old  members  got  a  new  vision 
of  a  complete  life  and  new  members  began  to  **  be- 
lieve in  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association." 
After  this  time  a  gymnasium  must  be  reckoned  with 
in  organizing  an  Association  and  in  renting  rooms  or 
planning  a  new  building.  Board  members  realized 
its  value  and  glibly  answered  questions  and  argued 
that  the  work  itself  combined  strength  and  elasticity 
of  muscle  with  beauty  and  grace  of  movement. 

Worcester,  Brooklyn  and  Newburgh  were  among 
the  early  owners  of  gymnasiums  constructed  in  their 
buildings,  but  not  till  Buffalo  and  Montgomery  in 
1905  succeeded  to  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
buildings  did  any  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion give  swimming  instruction  in  their  swimming 
pool.  Later  on  a  pool,  or  merely  a  plunge,  began  to 
be  thought  a  requisite  for  any  organization  of  this 
character. 

Lord  Shaftesbury  showed  his  interest  in  the  protec- 
tion of  young  girls  by  paying  for  placards  which  the 
several  railroad  companies  allowed  to  be  put  up  in 
the  terminal  stations  of  London  in  1885.  These  gave 
addresses  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Homes  and  Institutes  both  in  London  and  provincial 
towns,  from  which  representatives  would  come  to  meet 
upon  application  any  girls  arriving  in  the  city  who 
had  no  friends  there  to  look  after  them.  This  was 
in  connection  with  a  Traveler's  Aid  department  and 
secretary  working  at  17  Old  Cavendish  Street,  when 
that  address  was  headquarters  of  the  London  Associa- 


102       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tion.  So  strongly  was  the  pressing  need  for  protec- 
tion brought  out  by  the  press  at  that  time,  that  the 
necessity  of  a  movement  to  unite  forces  willing  to  help 
and  to  avoid  overlapping  was  felt.  A  meeting  was 
called  at  Exeter  Hall  of  some  twenty-two  different  so- 
cieties engaged  among  women  and  girls  and  a  per- 
manent union  effected  under  the  name  of  the  Trav- 
eler's Aid  Society,  with  a  standing  committee  of  men 
and  women.  Lady  Frances  Balfour  was  president 
and  her  associates  represented  the  Girls'  Friendly 
Society,  Young  Women's  Help  Society,  Metropolitan 
Association  for  Befriending  Young  Servants,  the  Re- 
formatory and  Refuge  Union,  Protective  and  Rescue 
Society  for  Jewish  Girls,  National  Vigilance  Associa- 
tion and  Girls'  Helpful  Society.  One  might  say  that 
it  was  **in  bound"  travelers  whom  this  society  was 
to  assist,  but  for  *'out  bound"  passengers  the  British 
ladies  had  already  been  concerned  for  nearly  thirty 
years  through  their  connection  with  the  British 
Ladies'  Female  Emigration  Society.  But  the  out- 
bound travelers  of  the  old  world  became  the  inbound 
travelers  of  the  new,  and  both  British  agencies  had 
been  long  in  communication  with  Association  homes 
and  friends  in  America  before  the  Boston  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  actually  formed  a  de- 
partment in  charge  of  a  secretary  (1887).  The  Chi- 
cago Association  in  1888  had  a  Traveler's  Aid  de- 
partment and  a  transient  home  in  connection  with  it. 
Matrons  at  stations  and  ferries  were  provided  in  Kan- 
sas City  and  St.  Louis,  Missouri  and  San  Francisco 
as  a  beginning.    It  frequently  occurred  that  long 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  103 

after  the  necessity  of  this  work  had  so  appealed  to 
the  station  officials  that  they  had  added  the  matron 
to  the  pay  rolls  of  the  company,  the  Association  was 
asked  to  nominate  suitable  persons  to  the  vacancies, 
and  to  advise  with  them  about  matters  much  as  if  she 
represented  only  the  Association. 

In  the  ceaseless  debate  between  the  advocates  of 
domestic  and  factory  labor,  the  anti-factory  speakers 
have  cited  not  only  the  long  hours  but  the  unpleasant 
surroundings  of  factory  and  mill  operatives.  In  this 
regard  the  same  error  exists  that  always  makes  trouble 
when  people  generalize  about  any  human  beings, 
young  versus  old,  native  versus  foreign,  rich  versus 
poor,  and  attach  to  hundreds  of  thousands,  the  charac- 
teristics or  the  circumstances  that  may  have  pertained 
to  a  few  individuals.  The  ease  with  which  statistics 
are  gathered  about  manufacturing  establishments  aids 
this.  People  easily  fancy  so  many  girls,  coming  from 
such-looking  mills,  where  they  have  been  doing  such 
and  such  things,  going  along  such  streets  to  such 
homes,  and  flatter  themselves  that  they  **know  fac- 
tory girls.'* 

It  was  not  with  such  a  spirit  that  the  devoted 
women  of  the  New  York  Ladies*  Christian  Associa- 
tion had  visited  at  noon  in  the  American  Tract  House 
and  a  hoop  skirt  factory.  They  were  fresh  from  an 
uplifting,  regenerating,  rejuvenating  religious  experi- 
rience,  which  made  the  whole  city  of  New  York  a 
place  for  which  Christ  had  died,  and  although  timid 
and  hesitant  over  the  ordeal,  they  found  their  way 


104       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

to  the  places  where  girls  were  and  at  a  time  when 
they  were  at  liberty.  Probably  they  had  personal  ac- 
quaintances in  these  places  through  whom  the  visits 
were  arranged.  It  was  not  such  a  spirit  which 
caused  the  Germantown  Association  as  soon  as  it  was 
organized  to  open  a  night  school  where  sewing  and 
other  womanly  arts  were  taught,  where  social  life  was 
enjoyed  and  where  a  Bible  class  held  the  main  place 
in  the  weekly  program.  Many  Associations  had  regu- 
lar campaigns  of  invitation  into  workrooms  and 
places  of  business.  If  it  was  convenient  for  the  girls 
they  boarded  at  the  Association  homes  and  had  a  hand 
in  everything  that  was  going  on.  There  was  no  dis- 
tinction in  membership,  but  the  fact  finally  had  to 
be  faced  that  in  many  cities  the  home  and  business 
localities  of  thousands  of  girls  were  too  far  away  from 
the  Association  for  the  rank  and  file  of  industrial 
workers  to  know  or  care  whether  there  were  any 
Young  Women 's  Christian  Associations. 

It  was  then  that  the  people  at  the  center  who  really 
did  know,  and  really  did  care,  began  to  think  of  **  ex- 
tending*' the  Association  to  where  the  girls  really 
were.  Some  Associations,  Baltimore  (1889),  Scran- 
ton  (1891)  and  Milwaukee  (1893)  found  rooms  for 
a  miniature  Association  in  a  part  of  town  nearer  the 
homes  or  the  factories. 

Dayton  went  even  further  in  1892,  and  their  work- 
ers had  a  regular  Monday  appointment  at  the  National 
Cash  Register  factory,  for  what  was  called  the  ''Busy 
Girls'  Half  Hour"  in  the  workroom  after  luncheons 
were  eaten.    Health,  dress  and  morals  were  themes 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  105 

for  practical  talks — Bible  verses  were  memorized. 
The  meetings,  which  always  opened  with  prayer,  were 
mutual  exchanges  of  ideas  about  Christian  helpfulness, 
for  many  of  the  group  were  leaders  in  their  own 
church  organizations.  One  November  day  the  **Busy 
Girls"  showed  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  jars  and 
glasses  of  fruit  which  they  had  collected  for  the  Dea- 
coness Hospital;  at  Easter  a  similar  offering  was 
ready.  More  cities  worked  out  the  same  plan. 
Charlotte  Adams  made  regular  visits  to  bakeries  and 
cigar  factories  in  Pittsburgh,  from  1894  on.  Maude 
Wolff's  visits  in  the  Milwaukee  factories  in  1895  are 
another  paragraph,  as  is  Isabel  Smith's  picturesque 
bicycle  trip  to  a  Kalamazoo  paper  mill  one  May  day 
in  1897,  carrying  a  large  baker's  roll  as  her  text  book 
for  a  talk  on  the  Feeding  of  the  Five  Thousand.  Her 
comrade  was  a  board  member  bearing  her  guitar  to 
accompany  the  gospel  hymns  sung  heartily  by  men, 
boys,  women  and  girls  all  seated  on  bales  of  rags  and 
piles  of  paper.  The  clubs  that  grew  out  of  these,  the 
revelations  of  leadership,  the  addition  of  a  member 
to  the  secretarial  staff  whose  sole  duty  was  in  indus- 
trial plants,  such  as  Neva  Chappell  in  Minneapolis 
in  1900 — all  this  is  but  the  preface  of  a  story  of  which 
we  are  even  now  living  only  the  beginning. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  first  building  erected  con- 
tained dormitories,  but  in  New  York  City  in  1887  a 
new  type  of  structure  made  its  appearance.  Under 
the  title,  ''Certain  Forms  of  Women's  Work  for 
Women,"  Helen  Campbell  contributed  an  article  to 
*'The  Century  Magazine"  for  June,  1889,  which  was 


106       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

splendidly  illustrated  and  aroused  attention  all  over 
the  country.  The  bare  description  of  the  building 
follows. 

January  18,  1887,  saw  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  and  the 
simple  but  beautiful  building,  five  stories  in  height,  was 
thrown  open  for  public  inspection.  Brick  with  red  free- 
stone arches  and  trimmings  was  the  material  employed,  terra, 
cotta  ornamentation  being  freely  used,  the  result  being  one 
of  the  most  attractive  facades  among  the  many  examples  of 
good  work  which  New  York  now  oflFers  in  this  direction.  A 
vestibule  with  tiled  floor  gives  access  to  a  broad  hall, 
finished  like  the  entire  interior  in  ash,  stained  to  produce  the 
effect  of  antique  oak.  Wide  double  doors  open  on  the  west 
side  to  the  social  parlor,  thirty  feet  square,  with  carved 
mantel  and  cheerful  open  fire,  on  the  east  to  the  employ- 
ment room  and  their  various  offices,  while  back  of  both  is 
the  chapel,  running  completely  across  the  building  and  some 
70  X  40  feet.  On  the  second  story  is  the  library  running 
across  the  entire  front,  two  small  rooms  at  each  side  being 
partitioned  off — that  on  the  east  as  reading  and  reference 
room,  on  the  west  for  magazines  and  periodicals. 

The  third,  fourth  and  fifth  stories  are  devoted  to  the  class 
rooms,  including  typewriting,  stenography,  machine  and 
hand  sewing,  dress  cutting  and  fitting,  bookkeeping  and 
arithmetic,  and  technical  design;  in  short,  all  the  branches 
in  which  women  engaged  in  over  thirty  trades  may  desire 
to  fit  themselves  for  more  efficient  work.  In  all  these,  save 
dress  cutting  and  fitting,  instruction  is  free  to  members 
whose  small  yearly  fee  gives  opportunities  in  every  direc- 
tion. 

On  the  fifth  floor  are  two  art  rooms  with  artists'  sky- 
lights, one  of  them  occupying  the  entire  back  of  the  build- 
ing which  is  slightly  narrower  than  the  front. 

An  Industrial  Room  gives  seamstresses  an  opportunity  of 
exhibiting  their  work,  fancy  and  otherwise,  and  orders  are 
taken  for  every  variety.  Monthly  entertainments,  concerts, 
recitations,  et  cetera,  give  needed  diversion,  and  a  small 
gynmasium  with  a  skilled  teacher  is  the  satisfactory  climax 
of  the  work  undertaken. 


CITY  DEVELOPMENT  107 

This  type  of  administration  building  was  found 
practicable  for  small  as  well  as  large  cities,  which 
Newburgh  and  other  places  soon  proved. 

Almost  all  these  departments  were  matters  of  evo- 
lution, as  were  indeed  the  whole  city  Associations; 
in  a  way  the  Associations  were  led  on,  one  by  one,  to 
meet  the  fundamental  necessities  of  girls:  religious 
fellowship  and  instruction,  individual  needs  of  em- 
ployment, protection,  housing  and  food,  acquaintance 
with  the  right  kind  of  friends  and  books,  study  for 
culture  and  self  support,  physical  preparedness  for 
life,  and  a  chance  to  work  together  in  being  useful 
to  the  whole  community. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  ORIGIN  OP  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS 

THE  Woman's  Student  Movement  within  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  had 
its  beginning  in  the  coeducational  colleges 
of  the  Middle  West. 

Among  these  may  be  included  the  colleges  closely- 
related  to  one  religious  denomination  even  if  not  con- 
trolled by  it;  the  state  universities  of  which  only  the 
undergraduate  department  was  taken  into  account 
( for  the  graduate  departments  were  chiefly  the  schools 
of  law,  medicine  and  dentistry,  often  situated  at  the 
metropolis  of  the  State,  away  from  the  main  seat  of 
the  university,  at  the  state  capital  or  other  smaller 
city) ;  and  the  normal  schools,  which  offered  an  aca- 
demic course  of  two  years  beyond  college  entrance 
requirements.  Both  colleges  and  normal  schools  had 
large  preparatory  departments  enrolling  more  or  less 
mature  students  who  were  accepted  into  college  life 
in  accordance  with  their  age  and  ability,  not  their 
class  rating.  The  exact  functions  of  university,  col- 
lege and  normal  school  were  not  always  consciously 
distinguished.  Young  women  chose  the  state  uni- 
versity because  of  the  variety  of  courses  offered,  the 
better  equipment  and  the  larger  faculty.    They  at- 

108 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       109 

tended  their  denominational  college  in  their  own 
State  as  a  matter  of  course,  or  because  they  lived  near 
by  such  in  ease  they  were  of  another  church  connec- 
tion. Aside  from  the  young  women  who  wanted  to 
teach  school  and  attended  the  normal  school  as  the 
logical  preparation  for  their  chosen  profession,  there 
were  also  the  daughters  of  educationally  thrifty  par- 
ents who  went  to  a  normal  school  because  they  could 
fit  themselves  for  self  support  there  in  half  the  time 
it  would  take  if  they  went  to  college,  a  quantitative 
rather  than  a  qualitative  analysis  of  the  matter,  one 
might  almost  say. 

For  the  person  seeking  the  bachelor's  degree  in  arts 
or  science  in  the  '70 's  or  '80 's  there  was  slight  varia- 
tion in  the  courses  of  most  colleges  except  that  Greek, 
in  the  classical  course,  added  a  third  year  in  the 
**prep"  department  as  the  scientific  course  meant 
only  two  years'  preparatory  work  in  which  there  was 
no  Greek.  The  weekly  schedule  ran  along  in  solid 
blocks  of  five, — each  of  the  five  days  of  the  week  an 
hour  long  recitation  in  Latin,  one  in  some  other  lan- 
guage, one  in  mathematics,  until  history  and  mental 
philosophy  and  moral  philosophy  and  the  other  higher 
studies  were  reached.  Alterations  in  the  curriculum 
were  gradual  and  were  accomplished  mainly  by  the 
advent  of  a  new  professor  *'from  the  East"  or  the 
return  of  some  distinguished  alumnus  who  **had  been 
East"  fitting  himself  for  an  alumni  chair.  That  elec- 
tives  were  slow  in  finding  a  place  was  not  due  alone 
to  fondness  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  those  sub- 
jects which  must  be  dropped  from  a  student's  course 


110       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

in  order  to  allow  him  a  choice — one  does  not  easily 
forget  the  consternation  over  the  rumor  that  a  col- 
lege proposed  to  graduate  a  student  without  Latin — 
but  the  delay  was  also  due  to  the  meager  resources 
of  library  and  laboratory  and  the  short  list  of  faculty 
members  as  well. 

Perhaps  the  faculty  was  small,  but  in  instance  after 
instance  it  was  a  faculty  of  great  teachers  and  great 
men. 

The  president  was  usually  an  ordained  man,  from 
some  New  England  storehouse  of  learning;  his  classes 
in  logic  and  evidences  of  Christianity  were  the  meet- 
ing places  of  souls  and  minds  for  students  possessed 
of  both.  When  the  president  did  not  play  the  part 
of  guide,  philosopher  and  friend,  an  intellectual  giant 
with  the  heart  of  a  friendly  child,  there  was  always 
sure  to  be  some  ** grand  old  man'*  on  the  faculty,  from 
whose  steadfast  personality  the  character  of  individu- 
als and  the  very  character  of  the  college  caught  their 
tone.  In  two  or  three  instances  this  ranking  person- 
ality was  a  woman.  Usually  the  preceptress,  or  lady 
principal,  was  content  to  teach  four  classes  in  modern 
languages  each  day,  preside  over  the  ladies'  dormi- 
tory and  administer  the  rules  of  the  college  both  for 
town  and  out  of  town  girls,  interpreting  and  enforc- 
ing the  regulations  ''concerning  the  Association 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen."  The  faculty  sat  in  a 
row  on  the  rostrum  at  chapel,  and  the  men 
took  turns  in  giving  out  the  hymns,  reading  the  scrip- 
ture lesson  and  offering  prayer ;  but  it  was  the  presi- 
dent, or  in  his  absence  on  preaching  or  financing  tours, 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       111 

the  vice-president,  wlio  gave  the  notices  and  made  talks 
beginning,  *'It  has  been  brought  to  my  attention — " 

The  college  building  occupied  little  space  on  the 
ample  campus  which  had  been  laid  out  in  the  early 
days  of  the  town.  Perhaps  the  college  had  been  the 
motive  for  building  the  town.  If  the  chapel  were 
larger  than  the  church  of  the  corresponding  denomina- 
tion it  was  the  main  community  audience  room.  If 
the  church  were  larger  it  was  upon  that  platform  that 
students  rehearsed  in  the  unaccustomed  rainbow  col- 
ored light  of  a  mid-week  afternoon,  those  orations  and 
prize  declamations,  which  admiring  relatives  from  all 
over  the  state  would  come  to  hear. 

The  men's  dormitories  rarely  had  commons,  but  the 
students  made  up  boarding  clubs  at  private  houses,  or 
took  their  meals  at  the  women's  hall,  or  boarded  them- 
selves. Sometimes  young  women  were  granted  per- 
mission by  the  faculty  to  set  up  their  own  housekeep- 
ing in  furnished  rooms,  and  a  few  girls  lived  with  even 
less  expense  by  working  for  their  board  in  a  family 
which  understood  and  accepted  the  college  hours, 
namely,  morning  recitations  at  eight,  nine,  ten  and 
eleven,  afternoon  classes  at  two  and  three  o'clock  and 
chapel  at  four.  Sometimes  chapel  began  the  day  in- 
stead of  closing  it. 

In  the  denominational  coUege  many  of  the  faculty 
felt  very  deeply  their  responsibility  for  the  **cure  of 
souls"  and  expressed  this  not  so  much  in  the  required 
chapel  services  as  in  the  mid-week  college  prayer 
meeting,  in  the  Day  of  Prayer  services  on  the  holi- 
day granted  the  last  Thursday  of  January,  and  in 


112       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

those  revivals  of  religion  which  sometimes  followed 
upon  that  day  of  prayer  or  upon  the  Evangelical 
Alliance  Week  of  Prayer  in  which  the  churches  united 
the  first  week  of  January.  To  these  general  services 
must  be  added  the  young  ladies*  prayer  meeting, 
which  the  preceptress  led  each  week  and  in  which 
many  a  girl,  who  had  made  a  decision  for  Christ  in  a 
larger  meeting  began  that  religious  expression  which 
she  found  not  only  a  result  of  growth,  but  a  means  to 
growth.  Back  of  this  the  constant  intercession  of 
parents  and  pastors  at  home  could  be  reckoned  on  for 
certain  young  folks  whose  careers  had  been  guided 
toward  college  in  the  hope  that  they  would  not  be  dis- 
obedient to  the  heavenly  vision  to  which  they  had  not 
before  responded  or  had  followed  only  haltingly. 

The  last  call  of  the  whole  college  course  was  some 
service  during  Commencement  Sunday,  led,  perhaps, 
by  an  alumnus,  when  some  one  who  had  been  appar- 
ently uninfluenced  by  any  manifestation  of  religious 
life  or  teaching  during  the  past  four  or  six  or  seven 
years  would  rise  and  say,  **I  could  not  leave  this  col- 
lege without  testifying  that  I  go  out  as  a  disciple  of 
Jesus  Christ."  Then  the  professors  forgot  their 
heavy  schedules  and  their  scant  salaries  irregularly 
paid,  and  their  remoteness  from  intellectual  resources 
and  the  faintness  of  any  hope  of  bettering  these  con- 
ditions, they  forgot  the  tedious  faculty  meetings,  and 
the  indifference  of  undergraduates  and  the  criticisms 
from  within  and  without;  they  thanked  God  for  one 
more  student  ready  to  live,  and  took  courage  for  the 
next  incoming  generation. 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       113 

Commencement  Day  was  the  brightest  jewel  of 
Commencement  Week,  which  crowned  the  year.  Each 
member  of  the  graduating  class  delivered  an  oration, 
and  the  valedictory  and  salutatory  honor  speakers 
could  indulge  in  a  few  words  of  Latin  to  match  the 
sonorous  sentences  of  the  president,  as  with  dignity 
he  placed  his  silk  beaver  hat  upon  his  head,  rose  and 
bestowed  the  diplomas  upon  men  in  frock  coats  and 
girls  in  puffed  and  trained  white  muslin  dresses,  and 
wearing  pink  roses  in  their  hair.  Bunches  of  garden 
roses  and  bouquets  of  vari-colored  flowers  had  greeted 
the  close  of  each  address,  they  came  in  showers  from 
galleries  and  seats  in  the  old  chapel,  but  if  in  the  new 
church  were  carried  up  by  ushers  and  banked  up  the 
whole  corner  where  the  class  received  the  congratula- 
tions of  their  friends.  Then  came  Commencement 
dinner  with  toasts.  Some  one  must  represent  the 
graduating  class,  but  rarely  a  girl,  although  she  might 
be  intellectually  gifted  enough  to  have  just  produced 
the  valedictory  oration.  But  in  the  evening  when  the 
alumni  (where  now  the  class  truly  belonged)  and  fac- 
ulty and  townspeople  met  at  the  president's  '* Levee," 
as  this  annual  reception  was  called,  the  white  muslins 
and  pink  roses  were  the  center  of  attraction.  Educa- 
tion was  Coeducation. 

Each  college  was  divided  into  halves,  not  by  aca- 
demic standing,  nor  by  sex,  but  by  two  rival  camps 
known  as  literary  societies.  Subdivisions  were  by  sex, 
for  as  the  men  were  lined  up  into  Philalatheans  and 
Adelphians,  so  were  the  young  women  into  Athenas 
and  Hesperians.     The  Philalatheans  and  their  sister 


114.       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Athenas  collaborated  not  only  in  the  college  year,  but 
during  vacation  skirmished  to  bring  in  the  members 
equally  coveted  by  the  Hesperians  and  their  brothers 
the  Adelphians.  The  decorations  of  their  halls,  the 
solidity  of  their  Friday  night  debates,  even  their  par- 
ticipation in  religious  and  general  college  issues,  were 
conducted  on  the  strictest  partisan  lines  if  society 
spirit  was  running  high. 

The  social  life  of  the  undergraduates  centered 
around  the  receptions,  sleighing  parties  and  boat-rides 
of  these  societies  more  than  around  class  matters. 
Other  voluntary  organizations  such  as  the  college 
newspaper  board,  the  foreign  missionary  society,  the 
oratorical  society,  the  college  chorus,  lacked  flavor  in 
comparison. 

This  same  competitive  spirit  marked  the  intercol- 
legiate relations,  which  were  in  early  days  limited  al- 
most entirely  to  the  state  oratorical  contest,  from 
which  champions  were  sent  to  the  inter-state  contests, 
and  the  winning  speakers  and  winning  orations  were 
never  forgotten  by  a  grateful  constituency.  But 
knowing  each  other,  appreciating  each  other,  co-opera- 
ting in  anything  at  home  or  abroad — that  was  not 
dreamed  of.  Had  it  been  dreamed  of,  would  it  have 
been  desired? 

On  the  main  line  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  railroad, 
two  miles  north  of  Bloomington,  the  state  of  Illinois 
had  established  in  1857  the  Illinois  State  Normal  Uni- 
versity, and  the  village  had  taken  the  name  of  Normal. 
Here  in  1872  the  cultural  features  of  education  were 
fully  recognized  and  the  faculty  were  interested  in 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS        115 

graduating  not  simply  teachers,  but  men  and  women 
with  a  working  idealism  that  would  stir  them  to  take 
a  hand  wherever  they  might  find  themselves.  It  was 
a  congenial  soil  in  which  a  voluntary  religious  organ- 
ization of  young  women  might  spring  up  and  flourish. 
Some  of  the  student  girls  realized  a  need  for  a  meet- 
ing for  Bible  study,  Christian  conversation  and  prayer 
where  no  restraint  would  be  felt  and  which  would  not 
interfere  with  attendance  at  church  services  or  Sun- 
day school.  Three  other  students  and  two  friends 
from  one  of  the  churches  met  with  Lida  Brown  in  her 
room,  Sunday  afternoon,  November  12,  and  after  all 
had  prayed  they  talked  over  the  possibility  of  a  regu- 
lar meeting  in  a  larger  place  where  more  would  feel 
free  to  attend  than  might  come  to  a  private  house. 
The  committee  appointed  that  afternoon  reported  dur- 
ing the  week  that  the  vestibule  of  the  Congregational 
Church  had  been  offered,  and  here  they  met  regularly, 
with  increase  in  both  attendance  and  interest  owing 
largely  to  revival  meetings  held  in  town  under  the 
preaching  of  Mr.  Hammond  the  revivalist.  To  make 
these  meetings  permanent  an  organization  seemed  de- 
sirable and  a  committee  brought  in  a  constitution  on 
January  19,  1873,  in  which  they  had  hoped  to  be 
original,  but  at  the  last  moment  could  produce  nothing 
better  than  the  borrowed  constitution  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  the  school.  They 
styled  themselves  the  Young  Ladies'  Christian  As- 
sociation of  Normal,  Illinois,  but  in  September,  1881, 
after  a  new  constitution  had  been  adopted  in  the 
spring,  were  satisfied  to  become  merely  Young  Women. 


116       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Their  officers  were  president,  Ida  E.  Brown  (Mrs. 
James  Gary) ;  vice  president,  Ida  Witbeck  (Mrs. 
Charles  De  Garmo) ;  secretary,  Emma  V.  Stewart 
(Mrs.  I.  E.  Brown) ;  treasurer,  Lida  A.  Brown  (Mrs. 
William  P.  McMurry).  The  secretary  was  very  em- 
phatic as  to  their  relation  to  the  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation and  repeatedly  explained,  ''This  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  is  not  an  offshoot  of 
the  Young  Glen's  Christian  Association.  The  only 
part  they  took  in  the  formation  of  our  Association  was 
that  of  a  goad.  They  wearied  us  by  saying  continu- 
ally: 'Why  don't  you  form  an  Association  similar 
to  oursT  This  was  after  our  prayer  meeting  had 
grown  too  large  to  be  handled  without  some  system 
and  we  were  debating  about  what  it  was  best  to  do. 
They  also  kindly  lent  us  their  constitution  and  by- 
laws, upon  our  application.  With  the  organization 
of  the  prayer  meeting  they  had  nothing  to  do,  not 
even  the  part  of  the  importunate  widow." 

Soon  the  attendance  outgrew  the  vestibule  and  the 
body  of  the  church  was  used  for  meetings,  until  it 
burned  in  the  spring  of  1873,  when  the  basement  of 
the  Methodist  church  was  placed  at  their  disposal. 
These  meetings  were  usually  led  by  one  of  the  mem- 
bers, each  appointed  by  her  predecessor,  and  upon 
such  topics  as  The  Love  of  God,  Faith,  Prayer,  Praise, 
Christian  Work,  Christ,  the  Rock.  All  present  were 
invited  to  speak.  Both  men  and  women  led  the  eve- 
ning meetings,  which  they  held  with  the  Young  jMen's 
Christian  Association.  Soon  these  were  held  each 
Tuesday  evening  and  a  twenty  minute  noon  prayer 


Ida  a.  Brown  Emma  V.  Stewart 

LiDA  A.  Brown 

Jennie  Leonard  Hattie  A.  Lawson 

Founders  of  the  First  Student  Association 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       117 

meeting  for  girls  met  twice  a  week  in  the  White  Room 
of  the  University  Building,  In  this  same  building 
the  business  meetings  found  a  place  in  the  recitation 
room  of  the  preceptress  or  of  one  of  the  professors. 

The  leadership  of  these  services  and  the  rotation 
in  office  occasioned  by  electing  new  officers  and  execu- 
tive committee  each  of  the  three  terms  of  the  school, 
with  an  extra  committee  for  the  vacation  term,  cer- 
tainly gave  to  all  of  the  members  a  chance  for  de- 
velopment of  their  gifts.  There  were  also  several 
standing  committees,  and  special  committees  from 
time  to  time,  as  for  example,  ''a  committee  consisting 
of  two  members  from  each  of  the  churches  was  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  those  who  had  recently  become 
Christians,  about  joining  some  church.'^  "Each  of 
the  churches"  meant  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Congre- 
gational, Methodist  and  Christian.  Other  special 
committees  planned  neighborhood  work. 

The  minutes  were  faithfully  kept  as  may  be  seen 
from  some  of  the  entries. 

A  Committee  of  three  was  elected  to  appoint  one  person 
in  each  row  of  seats  (evidently  in  the  Normal  Assembly 
Hall)  to  speak  with  those  sitting  in  that  row  and  ask  them 
to  join  our  Association  and  to  attend  the  meetings. 

The  Association  passed  the  following  resolution,  whereas 

Mr.  D.  C.  Elliott  had  procured  for  the  Y.  L.  C.  A.  free 
of  expense  a  Record  Book  which  is  even  better  than  they 
had  expected  to  get  for  themselves,  therefore 

Resolved,  that  this  Association  tender  him  sincere  thanks 
for  his  kindness  and  that  a  copy  of  this  Resolution  be 
presented  to  him. 

A  Committee  was  appointed  to  join  with  a  similar  com- 
mittee from  the  Young  Men's  Association  in  providing  a 
literary  entertainment  for  the  Association.     These  commit- 


118       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tees  decided  it  would  be  better  to  hold  a  sociable,  which 
was  accordingly  provided  for  by  the  two  Associations  with 
the  assistance  of  some  of  the  Normal  residents  in  preparing 
Bupper  for  the  evening.  The  music,  toasts,  speeches  and 
supper  passed  off  very  pleasantly.  (This  was  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  school  year,  1875.)  As  the  young  ladies  had 
been  aiding  the  poor  by  soliciting  such  things  as  were 
thought  necessary  for  them  a  motion  was  made  and  carried 
that  such  work  should  be  made  a  part  of  the  permanent 
work  of  the  Y.  L.  C.  A. 

Term  after  term  the  minutes  show  the  evangelistic 
temper  of  the  meetings. 

"At  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  chance  was  given  for  those 
who  wished  to  become  Christians  to  manifest  it  by  rising. 
Several  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  An  inquiry 
meeting  was  held  at  the  close  of  the  meeting."  "An  after 
meeting  for  young  Christians  was  held  in  the  parlor.' 
*"Two  of  our  students  asked  for  prayer  for  themselves." 
*'Voted  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  see  the  pastors 
and  working  members  of  the  different  churches  to  see  if 
they  will  not  enter  heartily  into  union  with  us  and  have 
meetings  for  the  promotion  of  Christ's  kingdom."  "Our 
last  Association  of  this  term — Tlie  topic  was,  'The  Christian 
on  his  vacation.'  An  earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the 
young  people  not  to  stop  work  after  leaving  Normal,  but 
to  form  other  Associations  wherever  they  might  go.  An 
invitation  was  given  for  any  to  identify  themselves  with 
God's  people.  One  young  lady  rose  for  prayers.  In  the 
after  meeting  several  very  earnest  prayers  were  offered." 
"Five  expressed  their  desire  to  become  God's  children." 

Further  cooperation  with  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  was  the  work  of  supplying  current 
periodicals  for  the  students'  reading  table,  furnish- 
ing reading  material  for  the  racks  at  the  railroad  sta- 
tion, posting  bulletins  of  church  and  Association  serv- 
ices and  holding  joint  prayer  meetings  at  the  homes 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       119 

of  members.  They  also  attended  state  conventions  as 
re^lar  delegates  from  1873  to  1881  and  as  correspond- 
ing members  or  visitors  from  1882  to  1884,  and  made 
financial  contributions. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  conferences 
held  in  Normal  and  Bloomington  early  in  1881  and 
again  in  1884  had  also  brought  the  whole  membership 
into  touch  with  the  broader  Association  field,  its  aims 
and  policies.  Mr.  L.  D.  Wishard,  student  secretary 
of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  addressed  the  girls,  speaking  of 
the  Intercollegiate  Movement  and  stating  reasons  for 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association's  existence, 
independent  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, congratulating  the  young  women  of  Normal  that 
their  student  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
was  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  It  was  not 
until  after  these  addresses  that  the  position  of  corre- 
sponding secretary  was  created  and  the  new  officer 
was  asked  to  correspond  with  as  many  other  Associa- 
tions as  possible.  One  of  the  first  communications  she 
read  before  the  Association  was  a  letter  from  Mrs.  H. 
Thane  Miller  of  Cincinnati,  ''encouraging  us  in  our 
efforts  to  do  Christian  work."  The  Normal  Associa- 
tion, now  in  its  second  decade,  was  ready  to  meet  that 
fall  with  its  sister  Associations  in  Illinois  and  the  word 
Intercollegiate  was  to  be  translated  into  terms  of 
young  women's  work. 

Four  other  student  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociations are  known  to  have  come  up  spontaneously  in 
the  '70s  and  others  in  the  early  '80s  before  there  was 


120       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

any  outside  suggestion  toward  organization.  At 
Northwestern  College,  conducted  by  the  Evangelical 
Association  at  Naperville,  Illinois,  an  hour's  ride  west 
of  Chicago,  the  preceptress,  Miss  Cunningham,  met 
the  young  women  students  in  her  own  room  every  week 
for  an  hour  of  religious  worship  and  fellowship. 
Timid  girls  felt  free  to  participate  in  this  informal 
meeting  and  finally,  with  her  cooperation  on  Novem- 
ber 4,  1875,  *'they  formed  an  organization  for  their 
own  growth  and  the  salvation  of  unsaved  girls  and  the 
promotion  of  Christian  work."  This  they  called  The 
Young  Ladies'  Christian  Association  until  1884,  when 
they  changed  their  name  and  became  a  part  of  the 
Illinois  State  Association.  One  who  entered  college 
as  a  freshman  in  1880  found  the  letters  Y.  L.  C.  A. 
painted  on  the  doors  of  the  long  narrow  room  which 
the  faculty  had  given  the  Association,  and  which  they 
used  for  prayer  service  and  business  meetings.  It 
would  have  seemed  a  sacrilege  to  use  it  as  a  study  room 
and  it  was  too  small  for  social  purposes. 

The  Association  at  Olivet  College,  Olivet,  Michi- 
gan, dates  from  October  21,  1876.  The  constitution 
adopted  that  day  stated  their  object;  "to  promote  the 
spiritual  and  social  welfare  of  the  young  women  of 
Olivet."  One  of  the  prime  movers  in  this  effort  was 
Miss  ]\Iary  Burnham,  at  that  time  principal  of  the  Fe- 
male Department  of  the  college.  The  first  president 
was  Minnie  Cameron  (]\Irs.  J.  V.  Hartness),  later 
president  of  the  Lansing  City  Association.  Rosamond 
Hunt  (Gordon),  Flora  Lewis  (Gallup)  and  Ella 
Starkweather  were  the  other  officers.    They  held  meet- 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       121 

tings  of  their  own  within  and  outside  the  college,  also 
combined  with  the  college  Young  Men^s  Christian 
Association  and  the  Women  *s  Missionary  Society  of 
Olivet  in  other  services. 

The  State  Normal  School  Association  at  Carbondale, 
Illinois,  dates  from  the  same  year,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  first  entry  in  their  minute  book. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Model  Room  S.  I.  N.  U. 
Tuesday,  Oct.  17,  1876. 
At   the   close    of   the   Young   Ladies'    Prayer    Meeting   a 
proposition     was     made    to     change    the     prayer     meeting 
into  a   Young   Women's   Christian   Association,  which   met 
with  general  favor.     The  following  officers  were  elected  for 
the    first    term:     Miss    M.    Beech,    President,    Miss    Debbie 
Decker,  Secretary,  Miss  Lizzie  Sheppard,  Treasurer.     A  com- 
mittee consisting  of  Misses  Middleton,  McAnally  and  Mason 
was  appointed  to  form   a  constitution   and  by-laws   to  be 
presented  at  the  next  meeting. 

Then  followed  the  names  of  twenty-four  charter  mem- 
bers. 

On  October  30,  1877,  the  Lenox  College  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  at  Hopkinton,  Iowa, 
was  formed  after  consultation  with  the  officers  of  one 
of  the  Illinois  Associations.  The  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  of  Lenox  College,  which  had  been 
organized  the  year  before,  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
Iowa  and  its  constitution  was  the  basis  of  that  which 
the  young  women  formed. 

Another  interesting  beginning  was  made  at  Doane 
College,  Crete,  Nebraska,  in  1880  under  the  name  of 
Young  Ladies'  Society  of  Co-workers.     The  band  of 


122       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

girls  held  at  first  a  daily  noon  prayer  meeting  of  their 
own  and  had  a  Sunday  afternoon  prayer  meeting  with 
the  Young  Men 's  Christian  Association.  This  in  time 
became  the  regular  college  prayer  meeting,  and  the 
girls  maintained  their  own  service  at  the  Sunday  hour. 
They  led  in  the  Nebraska  State  Association,  changing 
their  name  in  1883  to  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation. 

There  were  other  college  young  women  even  more 
closely  in  touch  with  the  Intercollegiate  Student  Move- 
ment, however,  than  these;  they  were  the  women 
students  in  colleges  where  the  words  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  were  construed  to  mean 
Students'  Christian  Association,  and  they  were  mem- 
bers in  good  and  regular  standing;  they  became  of- 
ficers, committee  members,  leaders  of  meetings  and 
regular  delegates  to  state  conventions.  It  would  be 
more  easy  to  detect  this  phenomenon  were  it  not  that 
in  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  reports,  hiitials 
of  these  persons'  names  were  printed  instead  of  the 
sex-betraying  Christian  names.  The  table  of  student 
Associations  in  the  International  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  Year  Book  under  the  date  of  1882- 
83,  lists  its  officers  in  this  manner:  ** Lawrence  Uni- 
versity, Appleton,  Wisconsin,  president,  A.  Wilson; 
corresponding  secretary,  C.  Althouse."  It  does  not 
indicate  that  Miss  Annis  Wilson  was  a  prize  mathema- 
tician then  in  her  sophomore  year,  and  that  Miss 
Carrie  Althouse  was  the  best  soprano  singer  on  the 
campus. 

Those    two    titles,    Young    Men's    Christian    As- 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       123 

sociation  and  Students'  Christian  Association,  had 
been  in  vogue  since  1858.  Mention  has  already 
been  made  of  the  great  revival  of  1857-58  and 
one  noteworthy  result  in  New  York  City,  the  for- 
mation of  the  Ladies'  Christian  Association.  A  most 
enlightening  study  might  be  made  of  the  insti- 
tutions and  organizations  originating  in  revivals  of  re- 
ligion which  brought  to  people  who  walked  in  dark- 
ness a  great  light,  and  gave  them  incentive  and  power 
to  follow  that  light.  During  the  revival  in  Ann 
Arbor,  Michigan,  that  winter,  there  arose  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan  a  demand  for  a  Christian  organiza- 
tion of  a  more  positive  and  stimulating  type  than  the 
Union  Missionary  Society  of  Inquiry  formed  ten  years 
before.  A  Students'  Christian  Association  was  begun 
in  January,  1858.  Women  had  not  as  yet  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  University,  but  on  their  arrival  in  1870 
were  identified  fully  with  this  Association. 

That  same  year,  1858,  students  at  the  University  of 
Virginia  had  been  attending  a  series  of  revival  services 
held  in  the  Baptist  church  of  Charlottesville  by  the 
pastor,  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus.  Some  of  these  students 
had  been  conducting  mission  Sunday  schools  and  they 
had  been  thinking  of  unifying  all  the  voluntary  re- 
ligious work  of  the  university  if  possible.  On  October 
12,  1858,  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
organized,  adopting  a  constitution  based  upon  copies 
of  those  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in 
London,  England,  and  in  Boston.  So  hearty  a  deter- 
mination did  this  new  Association  possess  to  become  a 
part  of  the  world  movement  that  a  clause  was  inserted 


124       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

granting  membership  privileges  to  members  of  other 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  while  at  the  uni- 
versity, and  almost  immediately  it  entered  the  con- 
federation of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in 
North  America.  Other  student  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations  arose,  some  spontaneously,  some  en- 
couraged by  Robert  Weidensall,  the  first  employed  of- 
ficer of  the  International  Committee. 

In  1877  the  leaders  at  Princeton  University,  which 
had  just  changed  its  Philadelphian  Society  into  a 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  invited  students 
from  other  colleges  to  send  representatives  to  the  In- 
ternational Convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  at  Louisville,  Kentucky;  twenty-five  re- 
sponded from  twenty-one  colleges  in  eleven  states.  L. 
D.  Wishard,  who  with  William  Earl  Dodge,  Jr.,  had 
been  active  in  Princeton,  was  asked  to  become  a  visiting 
college  secretary  because  of  his  familiarity  with  such 
work  when  previously  an  undergraduate  in  Hanover 
College,  Indiana.  Hanover  was  in  a  section  where  co- 
educational colleges  prevailed  and  Mr.  Wishard  was 
perhaps  prepared  for  the  interpretation  of  the  words 
*  *  Young  Men ' '  in  the  title  of  the  Christian  Association 
as  he  encountered  it  on  the  tours  he  made  in  the  suc- 
ceeding years. 

When  he  visited  Normal,  Illinois,  he  saw  the 
women's  Association  at  work.  That  was  really  a 
young  woman's  movement  for  young  women,  capable 
of  logical  expansion,  which  could  not  be  said  of  the 
other  situation,  for  while  the  active  presence  of  women 
students  might  be  helpful  in  certain  localities  it  could 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       125 

hardly  carry  weight  throughout  the  whole  United 
States,  where  in  some  sections  coeducation  was  not 
even  a  debatable  question,  as  it  had  been  decided  in  the 
negative  without  debate. 

There  was  at  this  time  no  national  organization  of 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations.  Delegates 
from  Women's  Christian  Associations  and  Young 
Women 's  Christian  Associations  had  met  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  in  1871  in  a  conference  which  had  oc- 
curred biennially  for  the  ten  years  since.  At  two  of 
these  conferences  a  member  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  Mr. 
H.  Thane  Miller  of  Cincinnati,  had  taken  part  in  the 
program.  Mr.  Miller's  bride,  formerly  principal  of 
Mt.  Auburn  Young  Ladies'  Seminary,  was  also  corre- 
sponding secretary  of  the  Women 's  Christian  Associa- 
tion of  Cincinnati.  With  these  friends,  it  is  said, 
Mr.  Wishard  discussed  the  problem  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  young  women  from  the  student  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  without  disturbing  the  local 
Christian  work.  Mrs.  Miller  consented  to  bring  before 
the  Conference  of  the  Women's  Christian  Association 
(which  had  now  become  International),  on  October 
12-15,  1881,  at  St.  Louis,  the  question  of  establishing 
relations  with  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
in  colleges  and  seminaries.  After  Mrs.  Miller  had  re- 
ported from  the  Young  Ladies'  Christian  Association 
of  Mt.  Auburn  Institute  and  stated  that  the  object  of 
the  organization  was  the  development  of  Christian  life 
in  the  members  and  those  over  whom  they  have  in- 
fluence, Mrs.  John  McDougal,  president  of  the  Assoeia- 


126       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tion  in  Montreal,  Canada,  stated  that  she  had  received 
a  communication  from  the  Christian  Women's  Educa- 
tion Union  of  Scotland  requesting  that  the  young 
women  of  America  be  asked  to  affiliate  with  them  in 
Christian  work  in  schools.  The  conference  felt  that 
the  importance  of  the  work  represented  by  Mrs.  Miller 
could  not  be  over-rated  and  asked  her  and  Mrs.  Lam- 
son  of  Boston  to  act  as  a  committee  to  see  what  could 
be  done  and  report  at  their  earliest  convenience.  The 
next  day  Mrs.  Miller  reported  from  the  Committee 
upon  Work  Among  School  Girls  as  follows: 

Believing  that  great  good  can  be  accomplished  by  the 
organization  of  Christian  Associations  in  connection  with 
the  young  ladies'  colleges  and  seminaries  of  our  country, 
and  that  thereby  the  members  of  such  schools  will  become 
familiar  with  and  trained  in  the  methods  o-i  the  Women's 
Christian  Association  of  our  land,  therefore 

Resolved:  that  a  committee  of  three  or  five  be  appointed 
by  this  Conference  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  by  correspondence 
and  other  methods,  to  encourage  the  formation  of  such  or- 
ganizations in  young  ladies'  schools  and  colleges,  and  se- 
cure from  them,  as  far  as  possible,  a  representation  in 
our  future  conferences. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  and  Mrs.  Miller  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  collaborated  with  Mr. 
Wishard.  His  duties  took  him  among  the  coeduca- 
tional colleges  and  into  the  student  conferences  where 
women  were  present.  A  circular  signed  by  Mrs.  Miller 
and  entitled  ** Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
in  American  Colleges  and  Seminaries"  was  sent  out 
widely.  This  narrated  the  action  of  the  St.  Louis 
Conference,  omitting  the  phrases  limiting  its  scope 
to  women's  institutions,  since  Mr.  Wishard 's  problem 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       127 

was  in  coeducational  colleges,  and  stated  the  objects  to 
be  gained  by  separate  organization,  and  special  ad- 
vantages as  well. 

There  are  special  advantages  to  be  desired  from  the 
formation  of  these  Associations  in  co-educational  institu- 
tions. 

First.  Young  women  will  naturally  feel  an  increased 
sense  of  responsibility  in  the  work  of  an  organization  bear- 
ing their  own  name. 

Second.  The  existence  of  two  Christian  Associations  in 
a  co-educational  institution  will  secure  that  healthful, 
stimulating  competition  which  greatly  promotes  activity. 

Third.  Many  young  women  will  feel  more  free  to  speak 
and  act  in  meetings  of  their  own  than  in  those  in  which 
young  men  are  present. 

Fourth.  The  organization  in  co-educational  institutions 
of  a  special  Association  for  young  women  by  doubling  the 
number  of  officers  and  committees,  will  double  the  number 
upon   whom   rests   special  responsibility. 

In  schools  and  colleges  exclusively  for  young  women  the 
proposed  organization  will  not  in  any  way  interfere  with 
existing  societies  or  methods,  but  by  bringing  these  societies 
into  relations  with  those  of  other  institutions  will  lend  in- 
creased efficiency  to  their  present  methods  of  work  and  each 
society  will  become  a  means  of  help  and  inspiration  to 
every  one. 

The  circular  announced  that  a  constitution  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  purposes  of  the  Association  could 
be  obtained  upon  application. 

This  model  constitution  in  its  '83  and  '84  editions 
stood  for  constitution,  by-laws  and  departmental  poli- 
cies all  in  one,  as  citations  will  show. 

"The  object  of  this  Association  shall  be  the  development 
of  Christian  character  in  its  members  and  the  prosecution 
of  active  Christian  work,  particularly  among  the  young 
women  of  the  institution."     "The  active  membership  of  the 


128       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Association  shall  consist  of  lady  students  and  teachers  of 
this  institution  who  are  connected  with  an  evangelical 
church  and  have  been  elected  by  a  majority  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  any  meeting.  Only  active  members 
shall  have  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office." 

"Any  lady  student  or  teacher  in  the  institution  may  be 
elected  an  associate  member  by  a  majority  vote  of  the 
members  present  at  any  meeting."  "The  corresponding  secre- 
tary shall  be  chosen  from  the  incoming  Junior  class.  She 
shall  conduct  the  correspondence  of  the  Association."  "Un- 
less otherwise  ordered,  all  standing  committees  shall  con- 
sist of  one  from  each  class.  They  shall  report  to  the  As- 
sociation at  each  regular  business  meeting."  "The  Associa- 
tion shall  hold  a  Social  Reception  for  new  students  at  some 
time  during  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  college  year,  for  the 
purpose  of  impressing  them  with  the  advantages  to  be 
derived  from  their  union  with  it." 

At  both  the  International  Convention  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  held  in  Milwaukee  in 
May,  1883,  and  the  International  Conference  of  the 
Women's  Christian  Association  held  in  Boston  in 
October  of  the  same  year,  Mrs.  Miller  was  present  and 
reported  sending  out  the  circulars.  Mr.  Wishard  kept 
up  extensive  visitations  and  in  many  places,  as  at  Ot- 
terbein  University,  Westerville,  Ohio,  he  helped  form, 
from  a  Young  Ladies'  Prayer  Meeting  which  had  been 
kept  up  many  years,  a  parallel  Association  to  that  of 
the  young  men's  organization  he  was  officially  as- 
sisting. 

The  Young  W^omen's  Christian  Association  of 
Merom  Christian  College  (1883)  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  started  in  Indiana.  Others  that  year  were 
Illinois  Wesleyan  at  Bloomington,  Illinois;  Parsons 
College,  Iowa  Wesleyan,  and  Cornell  Colleges  in  Iowa ; 
Albion,  Hillsdale  and  Kalamazoo  Colleges  in  Michi- 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       129 

gan,  and  Wooster  University,  Ohio.  The  year  1884 
saw  a  great  reinforcement:  the  state  universities  of 
Wisconsin,  Illinois  and  Nebraska  and  many  denomina- 
tional colleges,  among  them  Knox  College  at  Gales- 
burg,  Illinois;  DePauw  University  at  Greeneastle,  In- 
diana, Coe  College  at  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa  College  at 
Grinnell  and  Penn  College  at  Oskaloosa,  Iowa ;  Wash- 
burn College  at  Topeka,  Kansas;  Carleton  College, 
Northfield,  Minnesota;  Lawrence  University  in  Wis- 
consin. The  first  student  Association  of  the  south,  at 
Greenville  and  Tusculum  College,  Tennessee,  also 
dates  from  1884. 

As  these  were  coeducational  institutions  one  is  not 
surprised  to  find  that  the  young  men  as  well  as  the 
young  women  and  many  of  the  faculty  of  both  sexes 
discussed  the  proposed  *' special  advantages"  pro  and 
con.  Little  was  to  be  gained  locally  from  segregation, 
some  thought,  and  they  were  not  sure  what  might  be 
gained  in  wider  relations.  Mr.  Wishard's  visits  were 
the  most  tangible  evidence  of  any  general  body  inter- 
ested in  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  and 
he  represented  then  and  previously  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  which  he  was  magnanimously 
advising  the  women  to  leave  for  their  own  good.  He 
did  not  publish  the  fact  that  his  committee,  not  Mrs. 
Miller's,  had  printed  the  constitutions  and  circulars 
which  he  told  them  to  secure  from  her  in  Cincinnati. 

But  back  of  all  questions  of  administration  it  must 
be  remembered  that  for  a  strong  appeal  to  the  un- 
converted the  young  women  had  looked  to  the  state 
secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 


130       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

who  in  their  rounds  through  their  territory  were  ac- 
customed to  hold  evangelistic  services  in  the  college 
chapel  for  all  students,  or  in  the  churches  for  college 
and  town  communities  together.  For  their  Bible 
study  courses  they  looked  to  the  office  of  ' '  The  Watch- 
man," the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  organ 
of  that  day,  in  which  ''Leaves  from  a  Worker's  Note 
Book ' '  and  other  popular  texts  were  issued.  For  their 
intercollegiate  fellowship  they  depended  upon  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  conferences,  state 
and  district,  which  might  be  within  reach,  and  in  the  ar- 
rangements for  which  they  had  been  officially  remem- 
bered. After  state  Associations  were  formed  these  con- 
ferences were  sometimes  really  joint  meetings  called  by 
the  state  committees.  The  men  delegates  were  college 
faculty  and  undergraduates,  not  the  general  member- 
ship from  city  and  railroad  Associations.  Speakers  of 
international  reputation  made  addresses,  students  made 
reports,  and  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  sec- 
retaries led  discussion  upon  topics  like  the  following : 
*'The  Opportunities  in  College  Life  for  Making  Ke- 
ligious  Impressions  upon  Young  Men ;  How  Is  the  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  Improving  Them?"  *'The  Adaptability  of 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  College  Girls ;  What  It  Is  Doing  and 
Can  Do."  *'The  Promotion  of  the  Missionary  Spirit 
in  College. "  ' '  The  Bible  Training  Class. ' " '  Intercol- 
legiate Relations."  ''Claims  of  the  General  Secre- 
taryship upon  College  Graduates."  "Individual 
Work,  Its  Importance  and  Blessedness. "  "  The  Two- 
fold Purpose  of  Association  Work — Saving  Men  and 
Qualifying  them  to  Save  Others. ' ' 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       131 

On  Sunday  there  were  separate  consecration  meet- 
ings in  the  morning,  and  gospel  meetings  in  the  after- 
noon, with  a  great  rally  at  night  for  state  and  national 
presentation.  Certain  hours  on  Friday  and  Saturday 
were  taken  by  the  young  women  for  their  own  busi- 
ness meetings,  when  the  alumnae,  who  had  been  As- 
sociation leaders  in  their  undergraduate  days,  unified 
this  year 's  meeting  with  its  predecessors  and  the  state 
executive  committee  was  elected  for  the  next  year. 

This  sort  of  training  made  the  conduct  of  a  state 
convention  of  young  women  alone  no  matter  for  alarm 
or  distrust.  Even  in  the  sections  where  the  young 
women  assembled  for  their  first  state  gathering  at  a 
separate  time  and  place  apart  from  the  men,  some  of 
their  prominent  women  workers  had  attended  these 
coeducational  conferences  and  knew  how  to  build  the 
program,  and  some  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation leaders  would  come  to  speak,  to  lead  the 
finance  meeting  and  to  advise  on  the  general  policies 
in  case  they  should  be  asked  to  do  so.  Perhaps  there 
was  an  undercurrent  of  conviction  on  their  part  that 
such  effort  was  well  expended  and  that  whatever 
strengthened  the  women's  Christian  organization  in 
any  college  would  also  further  the  interests  of  the 
men.  Some  of  these  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion secretaries  had  daughters  of  their  own  among  the 
undergraduates  and  counted  the  girls'  convention  a 
good  day's  work  in  their  year. 

Over  the  signature  of  Bell  Bevier  of  Wooster  Uni- 
versity, as  chairman,  the  Ohio  State  Executive  Com- 
mittee sent  greetings  to  the  young  women  in  colleges 


1S2       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

and  seminaries  in  Ohio  telling  of  the  organization  of  a 
State  Association  during  the  winter  of  1884  (February 
14-17)  and  calling  a  convention  of  their  own  at  West- 
erville,  the  next  February.  The  circular  said,  **  Per- 
haps never  again  in  our  lives  will  our  field  of  labor 
be  either  so  large  or  so  personal  as  during  the  days  of 
our  college  life.  The  desirability  of  some  organized 
method  of  work  that  can  be  adopted  by  the  educated 
Christian  young  women  of  our  country  is  evident,  and 
what  more  pleasant  bond  of  union  could  be  found.'* 
Michigan  had  formed  the  first  State  Association  at  Al- 
bion, also  in  February,  1884  (convention  held  7-11), 
and  Iowa,  at  a  convention  in  Cedar  Rapids  attended 
by  fifty  delegates  from  college  and  one  country  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  formed  the  third 
State  Association  on  November  15  of  that  year. 
Their  far-reaching  Iowa  spirit  was  shown  by  their 
response  to  an  appeal  of  one  of  their  number  with  a 
subscription  of  one  hundred  and  five  dollars  for  **an 
International  College  Secretary,  a  young  woman," 
who,  they  confidently  expected,  would  be  secured  dur- 
ing the  coming  year.  Their  constitution  did  not  con- 
fine the  organization  to  student  Associations ;  a  group 
anywhere  was  eligible.  Remember  that  the  Young 
People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  had  been 
known  less  than  four  years  and  had  not  found  its 
way  in  any  appreciable  degree  into  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  At  joint  conventions  in  January  of  1885,  at 
Whitewater,  Wisconsin,  and  at  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
the  third  and  fourth  State  Associations  were  effected. 
In  April  at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  and  in  December  at 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       133 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  the  sixth  and  seventh  State  As- 
sociations were  formed;  Kansas  and  Nebraska  fol- 
lowed in  1886. 

In  all  these  states,  an  Executive  Committee  was 
elected,  representing  in  its  membership  each  local  unit. 
The  main  officer  was  the  president,  some  capable  un- 
dergraduate, who  was  then  at  liberty  to  select  one 
of  her  friends  as  secretary,  upon  whom  the  duties  of 
the  treasurer  also  fell,  for  both  state  and  local  financ- 
ing were  simple  almost  to  the  point  of  being  negli- 
gible. By  the  fall  of  1887  prominent  alumnae  were 
being  called  as  state  secretaries.  Ida  Schell  entered 
upon  her  duties  at  the  close  of  the  Iowa  Convention 
in  October,  and  though  she  was  teaching  at  the  same 
time,  managed  to  report  by  the  fall  of  1888  that  she 
had  made  twenty-three  Association  visits,  occupying 
thirty-four  days  and  traveling  2,581  miles.  For  this 
and  other  work  throughout  the  year,  chiefly  corre- 
spondence, she  received  an  honorarium  of  one  hundred 
dollars  and  about  as  much  for  traveling  expenses. 
Nellie  Knox,  who  assumed  a  similar  position  in  Ohio 
in  December,  1887,  had  by  April  visited  twenty-seven 
points  and  traveled  over  a  thousand  miles.  Kansas 
claims  the  record  for  full  time  employment  of  a  secre- 
tary ;  Mrs.  L.  P.  Bradford  of  the  committee  served  for 
April  and  May,  1888,  and  Jennie  Sherman  from  June 
on.  Illinois  was  only  a  few  days  behind,  for  Eula 
Bates  commenced  work  that  same  April. 

Never  were  four  young  women  more  unlike:  Miss 
Knox,  quiet,  forceful,  with  a  clear  vision  of  the  possi- 
bilities in  the  Association;  Miss  Schell,  substantial. 


134       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

unselfish,  a  natural  bearer  of  other  people's  burdens; 
Miss  Sherman,  keen,  alert,  giving  God  the  credit  for 
the  seeming  miracles  tliat  constantly  resulted;  Miss 
Bates,  gentle,  gracious,  instinctively  making  the  right 
approach.  All  were  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
whom  they  looked  for  guidance  in  this  untried  path. 
None  stayed  on  to  watch  her  work  past  the  pioneer 
stage,  for  one  married,  one  studied  medicine,  one  took 
a  missionary  appointment  in  India  and  another  in 
Turkey  under  her  church  board.  None  broke  down 
from  nervous  prostration,  although  the  travel  was  as 
exacting,  the  correspondence  as  taxing,  the  strain  in 
interviews  and  meetings  as  great  as  in  any  subsequent 
era.  Three  years  later  (1891)  all  but  two  of  the  thir- 
teen organized  states  had  the  full  or  part  time  of  a 
secretary.  This  advance  meant,  of  course,  a  larger 
State  Committee  at  a  permanent  headquarters,  a  regu- 
lar treasury,  and  sub-committees  to  care  for  groups  of 
Associations  and  the  various  headquarters  duties  such 
as  planning  the  secretary's  schedule,  arranging  for 
conventions  and  issuing  publications. 

Now  that  the  intercollegiate  idea  was  expressed 
through  joining  like  Associations  of  college  women  in 
the  State  Association,  the  dependence  upon  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  was  discontinued,  as  other 
means  became  accessible.  The  young  women  helped 
each  other  and  themselves;  the  results  were  proving 
their  claim  most  often  made,  that  the  Young  Women 's 
Christian  Association  had  as  its  distinct  object  ''the 
development  of  Christian  character  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  active  Christian  work  among  young  women." 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       135 

For  spiritual  appeal  to  the  uninterested  girls  they 
had  now  the  visits  of  their  own  state  secretary,  of  their 
own  national  secretary  and  of  rare  Bible  teachers  like 
Naomi  Knight,  who  made  tours  among  the  Associa- 
tions. For  their  Bible  study  courses  and  meeting 
topics  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations, 
the  national  committee  (see  chapter  XIV)  was  making 
some  provision  through  The  Quarterly  and  The 
Evangel,  although  the  International  Committee  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  kept  ahead  for 
many  years.  For  ideas  on  conducting  Association 
work  and  for  spiritual  vigor  which  the  workers  craved, 
they  had  their  own  state  and  national  conventions,  be- 
sides their  secretaries'  visits,  and  after  1891  their  own 
summer  conferences. 

Two  styles  of  railroad  connections  were  afforded  to 
the  towns  where  a  large  percentage  of  the  first  college 
Associations  were  to  be  found.  One  was  the  branch 
railroad,  upon  which  two  trains  ran  daily  each  way 
to  and  from  a  larger  railroad  center  several  hours 
distant.  The  other  was  the  main  line  where  local 
traffic  was  accommodated — inaccurate  use  of  the  word ! 
— ^upon  the  through  trains  which  were  scheduled  for 
convenience  of  passengers  arriving  at  Chicago  or 
Pittsburgh  or  Buffalo,  or  St.  Paul  or  Omaha  or  Kansas 
City,  not  that  of  pilgrims  to  the  academic  groves 
which  the  student  secretary  was  seeking.  Street  rail- 
ways were  found  in  few  college  towns;  unseaworthy 
hackney  carriages  and  very  commercial  omnibuses 
were  used  for  depot  service  at  charges  that  would 
have  seemed  too  cheap  had  they  not  matched  the 


136       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

vehicles  so  exactly.  In  order  to  avoid  short  night 
journeys  and  yet  not  to  be  en  route  at  the  afternoon 
and  evening  hours  when  the  students  were  most  at 
liberty  to  meet  with  her,  the  secretary  was  repeatedly 
taking  local  trains  due  to  depart  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  or  boarding  through  trains  due  to  pass 
through  towns  at  four  o'clock,  but  frequently  belated. 
Dormitory  breakfast  hours  at  6 :30  or  7 :00  o  'clock 
sometimes  fitted  in  to  this  schedule,  sometimes  not. 
There  were  no  lunch  counters  at  the  stations,  no  dining 
cars  on  the  trains  as  a  rule,  but  even  if  there  had 
been,  the  state  treasury  could  hardly  have  afforded 
to  pay  for  the  seventy-five  cent  and  dollar  table  d'hote 
meals  then  obtainable.  There  was  for  some  years  no 
state  office,  and  even  when  the  state  officers  were  will- 
ing to  help  they  were  often  busy  teachers  and  under- 
graduates, who  had  really  less  time  for  Association 
correspondence  than  had  the  state  secretary. 

When  the  difficulties  arising  from  newness  of  the 
position  and  the  secretary's  natural  diffidence  at 
venturing  forth  unpiloted  upon  uncharted  seas  have 
been  mentioned,  all  the  disadvantages  have  been  swept 
away  and  there  can  be  fully  acknowledged  some  of  the 
many  pleasures  and  satisfactions  of  those  visits  to  the 
early  student  Associations.  First,  the  welcome ;  dele- 
gates to  the  preceding  conventions  had  helped  raise 
and  give  the  money  to  put  a  secretary  into  the  field, 
they  believed  in  the  office,  and  wanted  the  officer  to 
spend  as  long  a  time  in  their  college  as  she  could. 
Sometimes  she  stayed  a  week,  rarely  speaking  in  chapel 
or  leading  the  college  prayer  meeting,  but  holding 


ORIGIN  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       137 

daily  meetings  with  the  girls,  talking  with  those  who 
called  at  the  dormitory  guest  chamber  about  their 
own  Christian  lives,  teaching  them  to  pray  for  them- 
selves as  they  surrendered  themselves  into  Jesus 
Christ's  keeping.  She  talked  with  the  president  about 
**how  to  get  the  girls  to  work  on  committees/'  and 
with  the  treasurer  on  **how  to  get  the  girls  to  pay 
their  dues,"  and  with  the  chairman  of  the  devotional 
committee  about  **what  kind  of  topics  to  have,"  but 
there  was  no  drawing  up  of  policies  for  each  com- 
mittee. Often  she  gave  a  Bible  reading  and  once  at 
least  spoke  about  the  state  work,  but  her  main  business 
was  to  bring  the  leaders  of  the  Association  and  the 
professed  Christian  workers  into  the  fulness  of 
spiritual  light  and  power  which  she  knew  from  expe- 
rience could  come  only  from  claiming  the  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  encourage  the  others  whom 
she  might  meet  to  rouse  their  wills  to  lay  hold  on  Jesus 
Christ  for  salvation.  The  secretary  tried  to  represent 
in  herself  what  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ation fully  meant.  One  of  them  once  alluded  to  her 
first  contact  with  the  movement  in  this  way:  **We 
were  awakened  to  a  new  and  vigorous  type  of  personal 
service  in  an  every  day  working  religion  that  sought 
to  make  every  day  a  day  of  opportunity."  The  un- 
dergraduates believed  that  their  secretaries  were  able 
to  make  good  use  of  opportunities  and  sometimes  when 
bidding  one  good-by  at  the  railroad  station  would  in- 
troduce her  to  a  fellow  passenger  who  had  not  come 
under  the  influence  of  the  last  few  days. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  INTENSIVE  GROWTH   OP   STUDENT   ASSOCIATIONS 

RAPID  expansion  was  seen  from  1886  on,  ex- 
pansion into  new  territory,  the  East,  the 
Pacific  Coast,  the  South;  into  new  types  of 
institutions,  such  as  women *s  colleges;  into  more  state 
universities  and  normal  schools  and  independent  sec- 
ondary schools.  The  centers  least  affected  were  those 
where  a  desire  for  aggressive  evangelical  women's  or- 
ganizations had  not  crystallized,  and  those  where  the 
lady  principal  felt  herself  so  responsible  for  the 
spiritual  culture  of  the  young  women  under  her  charge 
that  she  dared  not  divide  this  responsibility  with  a 
student  society  of  any  kind.  Every  new  Association 
called  something  forth  from  the  others  and  added 
something  to  them.  Good  ideas  were  not  copyrighted 
and  few  knew  the  origin  of  those  most  eagerly  seized 
upon.  Each  successive  edition  of  the  model  constitu- 
tion incorporated  as  standing  policies  what  had  been 
independent  experiments  a  little  while  before. 

A  natural  goal  for  the  membership  committee  had 
been  * '  every  young  woman  in  college. ' '  Faculty  mem- 
bers and  former  members  in  town  were  eligible,  so  that 
occasionally  the  total  membership  exceeded  the  num- 
ber of  young  women  registered.    More  often,  however, 

138 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       139 

the  membership  consisted  of  as  many  of  the  girls  in 
the  residence  halls,  and  from  those  families  which  had 
come  to  town  for  the  sake  of  the  college,  as  could  be 
secured  as  members  the  first  term  of  their  college  life. 
Daughters  of  families  with  strong  local  affiliations  and 
of  those  residing  far  distant  from  the  university  cen- 
ter, members  of  the  schools  of  music,  expression,  etc., 
when  not  resident  in  the  dormitories  might  or  might 
not  identify  themselves  with  the  Association. 

Then  a  new  conception  was  evolved;  a  Reception 
Committee  was  constituted  to  have  charge  of  the 
special  efforts  to  reach  the  new  students  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year,  and  also  throughout  the  year  plan 
a  social  life  for  the  Association  which  should  unite  all 
young  women  in  the  institution  in  a  Christian  sister- 
hood. The  social  program  at  first  had  been  brief  but 
striking  in  its  innovations  upon  that  most  conservative 
element,  college  tradition. 

For  decades  the  first  general  social  occasion  in  many 
colleges  had  been  the  formal  receptions  tendered  by 
the  rival  literary  societies  in  alternating  years  or  as 
close  together  as  the  faculty  would  allow.  The  new 
students  were  expected  to  attend  without  fail,  were 
judiciously  escorted,  lavishly  entertained,  and  ful- 
somely  impressed  with  the  master  idea  of  the  evening, 
namely,  that  a  college  career  would  be  unendurable 
unless  the  student  were  at  once  proposed  for  the  en- 
tertaining society.  When  the  first  delegates  reported 
from  some  convention  that  in  some  colleges  the  Chris- 
tian Associations  had  been  given  right  of  way  in 
social  matters  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  some  of 


140       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

the  Association  leaders  faced  a  painful  dilemma.  If 
they  fell  into  line,  the  literary  society  of  the  opposi- 
tion might  get  more  members  than  their  own,  whose 
turn  it  was  to  entertain.  If  they  did  not  fall  into 
line,  they  would  be  justly  despised  by  the  colleges 
which  had  already  made  the  sacrifice.  They  usually 
solved  the  difficulty  by  holding  the  Association  re- 
ception the  first  week  and  offering  even  more  sumptu- 
ous entertainments  by  the  literary  societies  after- 
wards. Then  the  informal  receptions  for  the  girls 
alone  found  place  here. 

Another  innovation  was  the  Student  Handbook, 
sent  out  to  intending  students  with  a  letter  of  welcome 
through  the  long  vacation  or  given  out  at  the  regis- 
trar's office.  These  pocket  manuals  were  usually 
issued  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
and  gave  the  current  and  historical  information  about 
the  college,  the  Associations,  and  the  community, 
which  new  students  were  sure  to  need. 

Leadership  of  the  religious  meetings  grew  to  be 
more  formal  than  the  occasional  custom  of  assigning 
each  member  in  alphabetical  order  had  made  possible. 
Topics  were  more  carefully  selected,  and  topic  cards 
were  presented  in  advance,  following  out  a  general 
scheme  by  which  gospel  meetings,  missionary  meetings, 
opportunities  for  presentation  of  religious  movements, 
each  had  a  place.  Instead  of  one  noon  prayer  meeting 
in  an  administrative  or  recitation  building,  small 
prayer  circles  met  in  the  residence  halls  at  an  evening 
hour.  The  early  period  of  private  prayer.  The  Morn- 
ing Watch,  was  becoming  known  as  ''the  secret  of  a 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       141 

strong  Christian  life  for  a  busy  student/'  and  officers 
and  committee  chairmen  often  met  weekly  in  prayer 
together  even  when  there  was  no  regular  cabinet  meet- 
ing. For  any  series  of  evangelistic  meetings  pro- 
jected by  college  authorities  or  by  the  Association  as 
such,  there  was  careful  organization  of  invitation  giv- 
ing and  of  personal  interviews,  so  that  each  woman 
student  not  known  to  be  a  Christian  might  find  help 
through  these  meetings.  When  attendance  at  chapel 
and  church  was  voluntary  the  Association  members 
supported  these  loyally,  as  they  did  the  class  prayer 
meetings,  separate  missionary  meetings,  or  other  gen- 
eral religious  gatherings  not  under  the  Association 
auspices. 

The  growth  in  Bible  study  was  tremendously  quick- 
ened through  summer  conference  delegates,  who  often 
declared  they  did  not  know  before  that  the  Bible  was 
written  for  thinking  people  and  were  charmed  to  find 
that  a  book  that  had  met  the  old,  old  needs  of  centuries 
of  human  lives  had  anything  to  say  to  nineteenth  cen- 
tury undergraduates.  The  distinction  made  between 
a  general  Bible  class  and  a  workers '  training  class  has 
already  been  noted.  There  has  been  no  time  when  a 
student  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  could 
fulfill  its  obligation  unless  there  were  several  young 
women  concerned  with  relating  the  lives  of  individual 
students  to  their  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ.  But 
even  the  best  methods  became  trite  and  meaningless 
when  followed  in  the  letter  and  not  in  the  spirit.  For 
this  reason  the  valuable  early  texts  fell  into  disuse, 
but  the  work  of  personal  evangelism  which  these  were 


142       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

designed  to  further,  has  again  in  these  later  years  come 
to  the  front,  as  the  real  meanings  of  membership  are 
better  construed  and  the  obligations  of  leadership  are 
being  assumed,  not  with  a  note  of  interrogation,  but 
with  affirmation  of  the  supremacy  of  the  spirit. 

Missionary  interests  have  been  almost  from  the  first 
closely  connected  with  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment for  Foreign  Missions,  which  dated  from  the  sum- 
mer of  1886,  the  same  season  in  which  the  State  Com- 
mittees formed  the  National  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  (see  chapter  XIY). 

So  dear  a  prerogative  is  the  sending  and  receiving  of 
greetings  at  all  conventions,  that  one  does  not  always 
pay  too  strict  attention  to  what  the  content  of  such 
messages  may  be.  That  could  not  have  been  the  case, 
however,  with  the  following  communication. 

Mt.  Hermon,  Mass.,  July  31,   1886. 
To  the  Representatives  of  the  Young   Women's   Christian 
Association  at  Geneva,  Wisconsin: 

The  two  hundred  and  eighty  college  students  representing 
ninety-eight  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
now  in  session  in  their  school  for  Bible  Study  at  Mt.  Her- 
mon, Mass.,  send  Christian  greeting  to  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States  about  to  con- 
vene at  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  with  a  view  to  forming  a  Na- 
tional organization. 

We  rejoice  to  hear  of  your  Convention  and  its  purposes 
because  we  believe  that  God  is  waiting  to  show  that  as  He 
has  blest  the  exclusive  Evangelical  work  of  young  men  for 
young  men  so  will  He  also  set  His  seal  of  approval  upon 
the  work  of  young  women  for  young  women.  We  con- 
gratulate you,  first*  because  your  meeting  will  be  a  notable 
event  in  the  history  of  the  special  Christian  work  of  the 
age. 

Secondly,  we  congratulate  you  upon  the  tact,  energy,  and 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       143 

devotion  shown  in  your  arrangements  for  the  proposed  con- 
vention and  in  the  plans  which  you  purpose  in  it  to  carry 
out. 

Thirdly,  we  congratulate  you  also  upon  the  opportunity 
you  are  about  to  have  for  receiving  the  outpouring  of  God's 
blessing  in  a  like  way  to  that  we  have  enjoyed. 

And  we  invoke  upon  you  and  your  deliberations  at  Geneva, 
and  upon  the  great  work  you  there  may  plan  and  organize, 
the  blessing  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 
By  the  Committee: 

Howard  H.  Russell,  Oberlin  College,  Chairman 

A.  M.  Cunningham,  Illinois  State  Normal 

S.  C.  Bartlett,  Jr.,  Dartmouth  College 

P.  B.  Guernsey,  Madison  University 

O.  A.  Lewis,  Carleton  College 

E.  H.  Rawlings,  Randolph  Macon  College 

E.  C.  Whitney,  Amherst  College 

John  McDougall,  McGill  University 

J.  R.  MoTT,  Cornell  University 

This  was  the  historic  month  of  July  when  at  the 
invitation  of  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody,  men  had  assembled 
from  universities  and  colleges  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  to  study  the  Bible  in  this  place 
apart.  This  first  student  summer  conference  was  also 
the  birthplace  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
It  is  said  that  ten  days  of  the  conference  had  gone  by 
before  the  subject  of  missions  was  even  mentioned  in 
the  Conference,  but  some  had  come  with  the  conviction 
that  out  from  that  large  gathering  God  would  call 
some  to  consecrate  themselves  as  foreign  missionaries. 
One  of  this  number  was  Robert  P.  Wilder  of  Prince- 
ton. He,  his  sister  Grace  Wilder,  and  others  of  that 
missionary  family  had  prayed  unceasingly  for  workers 
not  only  for  India,  their  home  land,  but  for  all  other 
sections  of  the  unevangelized  world.     When  the  invi- 


144       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tation  was  given  at  Mt.  Hermon  to  those  thinking 
seriously  of  foreign  service,  twenty-one  came  together. 
They  began  to  pray  that  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  would 
separate  many  of  these  delegates  to  the  great  work. 
Then  the  answer  began  to  come.  After  two  weeks  of 
thinking  and  praying  there  occurred  the  * '  Meeting  of 
the  Ten  Nations, ' '  where  sons  of  missionaries  in  China, 
India  and  Persia,  and  young  men  of  America,  Japan, 
Siam,  Germany,  Denmark  and  Norway,  and  an  Ameri- 
can Indian,  each  told  in  a  three  minute  address  that 
his  coimtry  needed  more  workers  from  that  very  group 
of  students  and  ended  by  repeating  *'God  is  love"  in 
the  language  of  the  country  he  represented.  The  num- 
ber of  intending  missionaries  increased  from  twenty- 
one  to  nearly  fifty.  It  is  said  that  missions  became 
the  topic  of  all  conversation,  everywhere.  Each 
volunteer  approached  others  and  one  by  one  men  came 
in  to  announce  that  they  had  won  the  victory  over 
self  which  set  them  free  to  follow  Christ's  command. 
When  the  farewell  meeting  of  the  Conference  as- 
sembled there  were  ninety-nine  enrolled;  when  it 
closed  one  more  had  announced  his  decision  and  an 
even  one  hundred  college  men  stood  as  volunteers  for 
the  foreign  mission  field. 

The  Cambridge  Band  and  its  tours  of  the  British 
Universities  was  then  in  people's  minds.  They  re- 
called the  dynamic  impression  made  by  these  seven 
conspicuous  leaders  in  Cambridge  University  life  as 
they  presented  the  claim  of  the  unevangelized  world  to 
other  undergraduates  and  led  the  way  out  to  China. 
Many  had  been  stirred  that  very  winter  by  J.  E.  K. 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       145 

Studd's  account  of  it  while  he  was  visiting  American 
universities.  The  volunteers  at  Mt.  Hermon  approved 
such  a  scheme  of  deputations  and  selected  four  men 
to  visit  throughout  the  country,  laying  before  other 
students  the  reasons  which  had  led  them  to  offer  their 
lives.  That  year  Mr.  Wilder  and  Mr.  John  N.  For- 
man  visited  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  colleges  and 
divinity  schools  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
going  two  by  two  for  the  most  part,  rallying  students 
around  the  idea  of  the  evangelizing  of  the  world  in 
this  generation ;  an  idea  which  seemed  as  visionary  in 
1886  as  it  seemed  justified  in  1913.  Like  a  revelation 
of  the  apostles  of  the  primitive  church  seemed  the  visit 
of  these  two  men  of  prayer  to  many  of  the  institutions 
when  they  came.  Like  a  miracle  seemed  the  response. 
Twenty-one  hundred  students  volunteered  that  year; 
five  hundred  of  these  were  from  the  student  Young 
Women  ^s  Christian  Associations.  The  percentage 
was  even  higher  in  some  later  seasons.  Robert  E. 
Speer,  Lucy  Guinness,  Clarissa  H.  Spencer  and  Hor- 
ace Tracy  Pitkin  were  among  the  later  traveling  secre- 
taries. 

How  to  make  the  movement  permanent  seemed  to  be 
answered  in  1888  by  appointing  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  one  each  from  the  International  Committees 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  and 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  a  third  person 
to  represent  the  Inter-Seminary  Missionary  Alliance. 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott,  the  first  chairman,  has  continued 
in  office  ever  since.  The  great  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  conventions,  occurring  once  in  a  student 


146       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

generation,  the  mission  study  texts,  dating  from  the 
course  on  Missions  in  the  Apostolic  Church  published 
in  ^'The  Student  Volunteer^'  in  1893,  the  missionary 
institutes  at  the  summer  conferences,  the  instigation 
to  missionary  reading  and  giving  on  the  part  of  the 
whole  student  body,  are  only  means  to  the  end  of  con- 
vincing students  of  their  opportunity  and  obligation 
in  answering  the  world  challenge  for  the  spread  of  a 
world  Christianity. 

Wherever  a  college  had  undertaken,  before  the  As- 
sociation was  organized,  the  support  of  a  missionary 
or  foreign  student  or  school  or  other  special  work 
under  the  church  board  with  which  the  college  was 
aflBliated,  as  was  many  times  the  case,  the  missionary 
department  assumed  that  obligation  before  con- 
tributing missionary  gifts  through  other  channels. 
After  1894,  when  the  state  secretary  of  Iowa  was  called 
to  become  general  secretary  of  the  World's  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  and  an  alumna  of  the 
University  of  Illinois  sailed  as  the  first  American  sec- 
retary to  India,  there  was  lively  interest  in  these  two 
new  avenues  for  missionary  giving.  Students  who 
were  in  college  January  20,  1895,  will  remember  the 
dime  banks  which  were  sent  out  by  Miss  R.  F.  Morse, 
the  American  member  of  the  World's  Committee  re- 
sponsible for  raising  funds  in  this  country,  and  the  re- 
quest to  hold  on  that  day  an  Oriental  tea,  or  in  some 
other  way  to  present  the  interest  of  foreign  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  work  and  collect  fifty 
dimes  for  the  world's  treasury. 

Intercollegiate  relations  were  most  evident  at  the 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       147 

time  when  delegations  were  being  made  up  for  the 
state  and  national  conventions  and  for  the  summer 
conferences,  which  began  as  a  Summer  Bible  and 
Training  School  in  1891.  These  developed  more  for 
volunteers  than  for  employed  officers  and  by  1902  had 
begun  a  still  further  specialization,  one  conference  for 
students  only.  But  the  widest  reach  of  intercollegiate 
fellowship  was  the  inclusion  of  the  Student  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  in  the  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation,  which  was  formed  in 
1895  in  the  following  way :  In  1887  Professor  Henry 
Drummond  of  Edinburgh  University  visited  the 
Northfield  Men 's  Conference ;  in  1888  a  delegation  of 
twelve  students  came  from  the  Universities  of  Oxford, 
Cambridge  and  Utrecht.  James  Bronson  Reynolds 
of  Yale  made  several  tours  among  continental  and 
Levantine  universities  in  1889  to  1892,  concentrating 
his  attention  on  the  student  situation  in  Paris.  John 
R.  Mott  spent  the  spring  months  of  1894  in  the  British 
colleges  and  attended  the  Keswick  student  conference 
when  the  British  College  Christian  Union  was  formed. 
Mr.  Wishard  had  lately  returned  from  his  world  trip 
in  which  student  Associations  had  been  developed  in 
mission  lands. 

Prince  Bernadotte  of  Sweden  invited  student  leaders 
to  Vadstena  Castle  in  the  summer  of  1895  and  two 
hundred  accepted.  Delegates  came  from  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  representing  the  Intercollegiate 
department  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
of  North  America,  through  which  the  student  organ- 
izations affiliated  with  the  International  Committee  of 


148       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  were  given 
membership;  from  the  British  College  Christian 
Union,  representing  both  men  and  women  students  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland;  from  the  German  Chris- 
tian Students'  Alliance ;  and  from  universities  in  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  Norway  and  Finland,  about  to  unite  in 
the  Scandinavian  Student  Movement.  The  widely 
scattered  student  Associations  in  non-Christian  coun- 
tries were  counted  as  a  fifth  IMovement,  represented  by 
Mr.  Wishard  as  the  foreign  work  secretary.  Dr.  Karl 
Fries  of  Sweden  was  elected  chairman  and  John  R. 
Mott  general  secretary.  For  twenty  years  they  have 
stood  by  the  task  the  Federation  assumed  that  day : 

1.  To  unite  student  Christian  movements  or  organizations 

throughout  the  world,  and  to  promote  mutual  relations 
among  them. 

2.  To  collect  information  about  the  religious  condition   of 

the  students  of  all  lands. 

3.  To  lead  students  to  become  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  as 

their  only  Saviour  and  God. 

4.  To  deepen  the  spiritual  life  of  students. 

5.  To  enlist  students  in  the  work  of  extending  the  King- 

dom of  Christ  throughout  this  world. 

Ten  years  later  at  the  Zeist,  Holland,  Conference, 
a  women's  department  of  this  Federation  was  created 
and  two  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  this  gener- 
ation were  appointed  to  leadership  which  rallied 
women  students  of  all  types  and  faculties.  Professor 
Lilavati  Singh  of  Lucknow  College,  India,  was  made 
vice-chairman.  She  had  been  introduced  at  the 
Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference  of  1900  in  New 
York  City  as  a  young  woman  who  had  read  Green's 


Miss  Ruth  Rouse, 
When   Representing   the   Student   Volunteer   Movement 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS        149 

History  of  the  English  People  through  seven  times  in 
her  eagerness  to  acquire  the  English  language.  It 
was  after  hearing  Miss  Singh's  address  on  the  Ke- 
sults  of  Higher  Education,  of  which  she  was  herself 
an  exponent,  that  Ex-President  Benjamin  Harrison 
said,  * '  If  I  had  given  a  million  dollars  to  foreign  mis- 
sions, I  should  count  it  wisely  invested  if  it  led  only 
to  the  conversion  of  that  one  woman."  The  western 
world  had  little  time  to  see  the  results  of  Miss  Singh 's 
influence  upon  the  woman's  movement,  for  her  death 
in  1909  cut  short  that  career  which  would  have  been 
a  revelation  to  people  unappreciative  of  Oriental  in- 
tellect and  little  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
woman's  education  in  India.  Miss  Ruth  Rouse  of 
Girton  College,  Cambridge,  the  general  secretary,  is 
well  known  in  America,  which  she  first  visited  in  1897 
as  a  representative  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment before  taking  up  residence  in  Bombay  in  the 
Missionary  Settlement  of  University  Women.  Then 
the  International  Committee  of  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  prevailed  on  her  to  postpone 
her  plans  still  another  year,  and  she  returned  to  this 
country  for  special  student  work  during  the  next 
academic  year.  It  was  during  this  stay  that  she  and 
Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge  talked  together  at  the  time  of 
the  New  York  metropolitan  conference  about  what 
Christian  life  in  educational  centers  in  other  lands 
might  be  if  the  student  Associations  of  America  would 
rise  to  their  opportunities,  look  far  afield  as  well  as 
upon  their  own  campuses  and  take  a  share  worthy  of 
the  name  among  the  women  students  of  the  world. 


150       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

From  this  interview  resulted  the  more  adequate  place 
which  American  women  students  have  since  assumed 
in  foreign  student  affairs. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  first  organization 
called  itself  the  Young  Ladies'  Christian  Association 
of  Normal,  not  of  the  Illinois  State  Normal  University. 
Every  Association  since  has  felt  some  call  to  outside 
activities,  both  for  the  natural  expression  of  an  un- 
selfish Christian  life,  and  because  many  communities 
have  offered  appealing  fields  for  the  service  which 
could  be  rendered  by  college  women,  endowed  as  mis- 
sionaries, speakers,  Bible  teachers,  sympathetic  visit- 
ors, or  organizers  of  groups  for  entertainment  or  study. 
Mission  Sunday  schools  have  been  a  favorite  commu- 
nity enterprise  and  from  these  have  resulted  churches 
or  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  or  other 
permanent  institutions.  From  this  training  many  a 
girl  has  gone  out  from  University  or  normal  school, 
into  some  isolated  town  or  village  so  untouched  by 
any  organized  church  that  this  young  teacher  has 
called  a  Sunday  school  into  being,  recruited  teachers, 
herself  acted  as  superintendent,  and  changed  the  whole 
face  of  affairs.  When  student  Associations  are  near 
cities  this  outside  work  committee  has  had  literally 
no  end  to  its  opportunities,  and  when  it  has  been  near 
the  open  country  its  response  has  meant  even  more 
self  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  members,  who  have 
made  their  way  along  the  snowy  roads  on  their  Sun- 
day and  week-day  appointments  of  winter  after  win- 
ter. 

Nothing  but  preoccupation  in  the  subject  of  the 


GROWTH  OF  STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS       151 

meeting,  or  an  enthusiasm  which  was  blind  to  all 
physical  objects,  could  have  made  endurable  some  of 
the  rooms  in  which  the  early  student  Associations 
held  their  meetings.  These  were  chiefly  college  reci- 
tation rooms  where  settees  and  the  professors'  desk 
were  the  only  furniture,  and  where  the  blackboards, 
covered  with  geometrical  demonstrations  with  and 
without  the  subscription  Q.  E.  D.,  or  corrected  French 
prose  sentences,  were  the  only  mural  decorations.  In 
1890  only  twenty-three  Associations  reported  rooms 
and  only  a  part  of  these  were  large  enough  for  the 
purposes  of  an  assembly  room.  In  1900  there  were 
one  hundred  and  forty-nine,  many  of  them  dignified 
and  attractive.  Although  the  subject  of  a  building 
for  Association  headquarters  at  the  University  of 
Iowa  had  been  broached  for  some  time  and  pledges 
had  been  made  to  secure  one,  yet  Brihton  Hall  in 
Philadelphia  was  given  to  the  Woman's  Medical  Col- 
lege of  Pennsylvania  Association  in  1888;  the  Iowa 
building,  Close  Hall,  was  dedicated  in  November, 
1891;  and  the  next  year  Stiles  Hall  was  erected  for 
the  Association  at  the  University  of  California.  These 
were  both  administration  buildings  for  both  men's 
and  women's  Associations.  The  Otterbein  College 
building  was  dedicated  in  1893.  All  sorts  of  experi- 
ences have  resulted  from  renting  a  large  house  near 
the  University  campus  and  opening  it  as  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  headquarters  with 
home  accommodations  for  the  secretary  and  several 
members.  Other  Associations  have  been  amply  pro- 
vided for  in  the  women's  building  designed  for  head- 


152       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

quarters  for  all  the  women's  organizations.  This  as- 
sures the  general  secretary  a  strategic  location  for 
her  office. 

From  the  very  first  every  Association  has  craved 
for  its  president  a  student  of  outstanding  rank,  in 
scholarship  as  well  as  in  administrative  ability  and 
Christian  influence.  But  how  to  exercise  the  second 
requisite  without  detriment  to  the  first  qualification 
was  at  times  a  problem.  This  led  the  University  of 
Wisconsin  in  1895  to  elect  a  graduate,  Mary  Arm- 
strong, as  general  secretary  at  a  nominal  salary.  Es- 
telle  Bennett  was  called  to  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota in  1896.  Other  universities  adopted  the  idea, 
though  they  often  found  that  the  woman  they  wanted 
was  a  graduate  from  another  university,  was  com- 
manding a  higher  salary,  and  needed  a  more  thorough 
professional  training  than  was  at  first  taken  into  con- 
sideration. Some  of  these  secretaries  have  been  of 
the  greatest  help  in  introducing  student  government, 
or  bringing  recognition  to  higher  standards  of  stu- 
dent life  as  well  as  in  Association  administration  and 
in  working  on  vital  problems  of  thought  and  life  with 
individual  students.  Each  decade  placed  certain  new 
emphases.  Even  the  terms  were  being  reversed :  *  *  The 
Christian  Student*'  of  the  nineteenth  century  became 
**The  Student  Christian"  in  the  twentieth. 


CHAPTER  XII 

COUNTRY   ASSOCIATIONS 

IT  may  be  said  that  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  in  rural  communities  has  been  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  the  college,  the  city  and  the 
county.  The  time  is  coming  when  it  will  express  it- 
self in  terms  of  the  country. 

The  first  intimation  of  country  work  is  found  in 
Iowa.    In  a  letter  dated  February  9,  1885,  one  reads, 

The  weather  with  us  this  winter  has  been  very  severe, 
the  thermometer  reaching  39°  below  zero.  We  have  been 
obliged  to  give  up  our  Bible  class,  as  the  weather  has  been 
so  very  cold  we  were  unable  to  get  to  our  places  of  meeting. 
Some  of  our  members  had  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles 
and  it  made  it  almost  impossible  to  attend.  To-day  the 
fiercest  snow  storm  that  I  ever  saw  has  been  raging.  It 
commenced  yesterday  afternoon  and  I  am  afraid  will  rage 
all  night.     God  pity  the  poor. 

Again  under  date  of  April  23,  1885,  from  the  same 
correspondent  there  is  another  communication. 

We  feel  more  encouraged  not  only  by  our  being  able  to 
have  our  regular  Bible  class  again,  but  the  manner  in  which 
the  girls  have  taken  hold  of  the  work.  They  all  seem  more 
interested  in  Bible  study  than  last  summer,  and  we  all  felt 
that  we  were  profited  by  last  summer's  work.  We  have  held 
several  Gospel  meetings  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  Pleasant  Valley  lately,  and  expect  to  hold 
them  as  often   as  we  can,   for  they  have  been   very  well 

153 


154       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

attended,  notwithstanding  the  usual  bad  spring  roads.  At 
one  of  these,  two  started  on  the  right  way.  In  the  last 
year,  three  or  four  of  my  most  intimate  friends  have  been 
brought  to  Christ.  Our  Bible  class  has  twenty  members 
and  our  Association  about  the  same. 

This  was  the  Association  in  Pleasant  Valley  town- 
ship, Johnson  County,  Iowa.  The  school  house,  which 
provided  a  true  religious  center,  was  situated  seven 
miles  from  Iowa  City,  the  seat  of  the  University  of 
Iowa,  and  four  miles  from  the  nearest  church.  In  the 
summer  of  1884  the  young  men  in  the  neighborhood 
organized  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  after 
the  pattern  of  the  student  Associations  to  which  sev- 
eral belonged,  and  a  few  months  later  the  young 
women  adopted  a  similar  institution. 

Each  organization  had  its  own  business  meetings 
and  Bible  class  sessions,  for  which  they  came  together 
in  private  houses.  The  joint  gospel  meetings  were 
held  every  other  Sunday  evening  at  the  school  house, 
with  an  average  attendance  of  sixty,  and  were  con- 
ducted by  leaders  chosen  alternately  from  the  two 
Associations.  They  set  an  example  followed  by  the 
young  people  in  adjoining  neighborhoods.  There 
were  also  social  gatherings  and  lectures. 

After  a  few  years  when  some  of  the  leaders  had 
left  home  for  professional  service  in  the  Association 
movement  and  elsewhere,  the  Pleasant  Valley  work 
lapsed,  but  the  results  had  already  been  recorded  as 
* '  elevating  social  pleasures,  interest  in  higher  literary 
culture  and  forming  of  sterling  Christian  character." 

This  Association  had  also  been  a  charter  member  of 
the  Iowa  State  Young  Women 's  Christian  Association 


COUNTRY  ASSOCIATIONS  155 

and  one  of  its  officers  had  been  on  the  committee  which 
drew  up  the  articles  of  organization  of  this  first  State 
Association  in  which  affiliation  was  not  limited  to  stu- 
dent Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  but 
open  to  any  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  in 
the  State,  provided  its  object  was  the  maintenance  of 
prayer  meetings,  Bible  study,  individual  effort  and 
the  development  of  missionary  interest. 

For  a  time,  enthusiastic  Association  leaders,  going 
home  to  villages  and  small  towns  or  becoming  teachers 
in  these  small  communities,  frequently  organized 
what  they  called  local  Or  city  Associations,  but  what 
were  really  the  spirit  and  activities  of  their  beloved 
college  organization  transplanted  bodily  into  another 
soil.  That  all  did  not  flourish  was  not  so  much  due 
to  the  sterility  of  the  soil  as  to  the  fact  that  the  plants 
were  not  adapted  to  it,  or  that  the  field  was  often 
abandoned,  though  rarely  neglected  by  the  gardener. 
Of  the  first  twenty  such  Associations  listed  in  five 
States  in  1887,  only  one  had  as  many  as  eighty-five 
members;  that  was  in  Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  which 
had  Association  rooms  and  the  beginnings  of  a  genu- 
ine city  work.  Eighteen  of  these  town  Associations 
were  found  in  Iowa,  Kansas  and  Michigan,  in  which 
states  the  Christian  Endeavor  Movement,  started  in 
1881,  was  just  getting  a  foothold. 

In  one  or  two  cities  in  Ohio  there  were  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  conducting  a  class  in  sewing 
for  little  girls  or  helping  in  relief  work,  but  as  far 
removed  from  genuine  Young  Women 's  Christian  As- 
sociation work  in  small  towns  on  the  one  hand,  as  these 


156       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

student   Association   extensions   were   on   the   other. 
Evidently  these  were  not  the  right  ways. 

But  not  for  a  moment  were  the  girls  forgotten. 
People  were  thinking,  and  occasionally  some  one 
wrote  out  her  thoughts : 

Many  girls  in  country  regions  have  ambitions  which 
grow  faster  than  their  opportunities;  they  long  for  some- 
thing more  than  their  circumstances  will  allow,  or  the  place 
affords;  their  active  spirits  grow  restless  and  dissatisfied, 
and,  allured  on  by  bright  prospects  of  good  positions,  educa- 
tional and  social  advantages,  they  speed  city-ward.  This 
is  not  as  it  should  be.  Let  no  one  think  because  a  place  is 
too  small  to  demand  and  support  a  full  fledged  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  that  therefore  nothing  can 
be  done  for  young  women. 

Another  solution  was  coming,  and  as  in  two  pre- 
ceding plans  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion work  in  country  and  small  towns,  coming  from 
the  devotion  of  former  student  Association  leaders. 
A  Carleton  college  graduate  of  1896,  teaching  in  the 
High  School  of  Preston,  Minnesota,  was  asked  to  form 
a  class  for  Bible  study.  As  the  interest  grew,  some 
of  these  class  members  became  pupil  teachers  for  other 
circles  in  Preston,  and  hearing  of  what  was  going  for- 
ward in  Preston,  women  in  other  small  towns  in  Fill- 
more County  formed  Bible  circles. 

The  Minnesota  State  Committee  kept  in  close  touch 
and  took  counsel  with  Mr.  Robert  Weidensall,  the 
pathfinder  of  the  International  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  who  had  added  to  his  pioneer  efforts 
in  student  and  railroad  Associations,  an  exploration 
of  the  rural  and  small  town  field.    The  result  was 


COUNTRY  ASSOCIATIONS  157 

that  he  had  brought  under  way  county  Associations 
in  Illinois,  Nebraska,  Kentucky  and  elsewhere.  The 
state  secretary  of  Minnesota,  Helen  F.  Barnes,  ar- 
ranged a  convention  of  the  Bible  circles  of  Fillmore 
County  for  December  31,  1897,  to  January  2,  1898, 
Mr.  Weidensall  was  one  of  the  speakers,  and  when 
the  delegates  had  organized  the  first  county  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  in  the  world,  he  met 
with  the  County  Committee  and  helped  in  outlining 
their  work.  The  convention,  like  the  Bible  circles, 
gave  first  attention  to  study  of  God's  word,  but  there 
was  a  social  evening  in  the  Preston  Association  circle 
rooms — for  Preston  was  the  exception  to  the  rule  in 
having  local  headquarters — and  other  helpful  con- 
vention features.  In  March,  1898,  Dodge  County  also 
effected  an  organization.  By  spring  there  was  the 
following  County  roster  in  Minnesota: 

Fillmore  County:  Preston — three  circles  (for 
seniors,  young  ladies  and  juniors),  Cherry  Grove — 
a  senior  and  a  junior  circle.  Spring  Valley,  Etna, 
Fillmore,  Washington,  Hamilton,  Granger. 

Dodge  County:  West  Concord,  Kasson,  Dodge 
Center,  and  a  country  class  near  Dodge  Center. 

Olmstead  County:  Stewartville,  Cummingsville, 
Eyota. 

Other  Bible  circles  on  the  same  plan  had  been 
started  out  of  the  State. 

As  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  had 
made  a  pre-eminent  success  of  county  work  with  a 
supervising  secretary,  so  the  Minnesota  workers 
learned  conversely  that  a  secretary  was  indispensable, 


158       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

because  without  one,  the  local  circles  lost  interest  and 
gradually  disbanded,  and  the  county  Association  dis- 
integrated. The  full  scheme  had  not  been  tried,  it 
ceased,  not  failed.  People  still  had  faith  in  some 
far  off  event,  or  plan,  or  leader,  which  would  help  the 
country  girls  come  into  their  own. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  CONFERENCES  OP  THE  WOMEN  *S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATIONS 

THE  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  invited  the  officers  of  all 
similar  Associations  known  at  that  time  to 
come  and  celebrate  with  them  their  fourth  anniver- 
sary, on  Sunday,  October  8,  1871. 

The  Sabbath  was  devoted  to  the  anniversary  exer- 
cises, held  in  the  Pearl  Street  Church;  the  following 
Monday  and  Tuesday  to  the  conference,  in  the  same 
church,  for  which  fifteen  delegates  had  come  from 
JBoston,  Providence,  Lowell,  Buffalo,  Washington,  Cin- 
cinnati and  Philadelphia. 

The  presiding  officer  was  that  elect  lady,  Mrs.  John 
Davis,  president  of  the  Association  in  Cincinnati. 
The  program  was  made  up  of  reports  from  these 
eight  cities  and  from  thirteen  others  not  represented 
by  delegates,  in  addition  to  discussion  of  the  follow- 
ing topics : 

1.  What  are  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  successful  work- 

ing of  our  Associations? 

2.  How  shall  we  secure  efficient  committees? 

3.  How  shall  we  establish  systematic  payments? 

4.  How  shall  we  best  gain  a  permanent  influence  over  the 

industrial   young   woman  ? 
159 


160       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

5.  What  is  the  best  method  of  Bible  teaching  in  the  classes 

of  young  women  connected  with  the  Homes  or  Associa- 
tions ? 

6.  Is  it  expedient  to  have  a  department  for  the  more  thor- 

ough training  of  sewing  girls  in  the  Homes? 

7.  Is  it  economy   or  promotive   of  family   feeling  to   have 

the  Home  table  on  the  restaurant  plan? 

Mr.  H.  Thane  Miller  of  Cincinnati,  who  had  a  bent 
for  organization  and  a  gift  of  song,  sang  frequently, 
as  well  as  spoke.  One  selection  was  *'More  Love  to 
Thee,  0  Christ,"  which  had  just  appeared.  Mrs. 
Lamson  of  Boston  described  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  homes  in  London  which  she  had 
lately  visited.  A  trip  was  made  to  the  still  uncom- 
pleted Hartford  building.  The  news  of  the  Chicago 
fire  was  made  known,  and  resolutions  were  sent  to  the 
women  in  Chicago. 

The  call  to  the  conference  had  emphasized  the  meet- 
ings for  prayer,  social  converse  and  discussion  of  im- 
portant questions  which  would  be  both  pleasant  and 
profitable  for  those  actively  engaged  in  "striving  to 
protect  and  to  benefit  in  every  way  their  young  sis- 
ters, who  are  toiling  for  their  own  and  others'  sup- 
port, with  many  trials  and  temptations."  This  was 
all  realized  and  a  resolution  was  adopted  providing 
for  similar  meetings  to  be  held  at  intervals  of  not 
more  than  two  years.  To  carry  this  resolution  into 
effect  a  committee  of  arrangements  was  appointed, 
which  selected  Philadelphia  as  the  place  of  the  next 
meeting. 

Here  forty-eight  delegates  from  seventeen  other  As- 
sociations listened  to  a  comprehensive,  lucid  address 


Women's  Chkistiax  Association, 

Hartford,  Conn. 

First   Building    Constructed   for   Association   Purposes 


W.  C.  A.  CONFERENCES  161 

by  Mrs.  Davis,  the  retiring  president,  in  which  she 
reviewed  the  work  for  young  women  and  other  kinds 
of  ministry  offered  by  the  organizations  represented, 
counting  among  the  results  already  attained,  the  ex- 
tent of  the  movement  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  was 
carried  on.  As  before,  the  program  was  occupied 
chiefly  with  reports  from  cities,  and  discussion  of  top- 
ics previously  announced.  These  were  opened  by 
papers  on  **  Boarding  Homes  for  Young  Women,  How 
Can  We  Best  Secure  the  True  Aim  of  Such  Homes  ? ' ' 
*' American  Girls  for  Domestic  Service,"  and  an  ad- 
dress on  *' Personal  Consecration  to  Christ  Essential 
to  Success  in  Association  Work,"  by  Mrs.  Hannah 
Whitall  Smith.  When  the  question  arose  as  to  the 
eligibility  of  voters,  it  was  decided  that  any  member 
present  of  any  Christian  Association  should  be  con- 
sidered a  voter ;  and  a  list  was  printed  in  that  report 
of  thirty-two  cities  where  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions were  established,  two  containing  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations,  two  Young  Ladies' 
Branches  were  also  mentioned,  thirty-six  city  Associ- 
ations in  all  in  the  United  States. 

So  far  no  organization  had  been  effected  for  this 
conference.  In  Pittsburgh  in  1875,  however,  the 
question  of  a  more  definite  form  of  organization  was 
presented  and  a  constitution  was  adopted  providing 
— ^under  the  name  of  Conference  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States  and  Brit- 
ish Provinces — for  an  executive  committee  *' charged 
with  the  selection  of  topics  for  the  conference,  with  the 
examination  of  the  credentials  of  delegates,  with  the 


162       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

selection  of  persons  to  open  these  topics  or  to  present 
papers  upon  them.  They  shall  prepare  and  publish  a 
report  of  the  conferences,  conduct  correspondence 
with,  and  encourage  visitation  among  the  Associations, 
promote  the  work  of  existing  societies,  stimulate  or- 
ganizations in  places  where  they  do  not  already  exist, 
and  transact  such  other  business  as  may  be  entrusted 
to  them  by  the  conference."  There  was  also  pro- 
vision for  a  financial  policy  and  for  the  appointment 
of  a  general  secretary.  In  order,  however,  to  have 
more  time  for  thorough  discussion,  this  constitution 
was  reconsidered  before  adjournment,  and  a  commit- 
tee authorized  to  provide  possible  substitutes  for  cer- 
tain of  the  sections.  In  consequence  the  Montreal 
Conference  of  1877  adopted  the  following  constitu- 
tion : 

Article  I — ^Name 
This    organization    shall    be    called    "The    International 
Conference  of  Women's  Christian  Associations." 

Article  II — Object 
Its  object  shall  be  mutual  conference  about  the  work  of 
these  Associations. 

Article  III — Meetings 
The  meetings  of  the  conference  shall  be  held  once  in  two 
years. 

Article  IV — Representation 
Each  Association  of  one  hundred  members  or   less  shall 
be  entitled  to  two  delegates,  and  for  every  one  hundred  mem- 
bers one  additional  delegate. 

The  accompanying  rules  provided  that  at  the  clos- 
ing session  of  the  conference  the  president  should  ap- 
point **a  committee  of  three  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 


W.  C.  A.  CONFERENCES  163 

arrange  for  the  next  conference  by  making  selections 
of  topics  for  discussion  and  appointing  persons  to 
open  the  same.  They  shall  also  prepare  a  program 
for  all  meetings.  The  secretaries,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  president,  shall  prepare  and  publish  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  conference,*'  and  further,  that  **no 
standing  or  special  committee  shall  contract  any 
money  indebtedness  without  previous  appropriation 
from  the  conference.'* 

During  the  Philadelphia  Conference  of  1873  com- 
munications from  Rome,  Italy  and  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  had  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  Foreign  Com- 
mittee and  a  Home  Committee  to  look  into  the  possi- 
bility of  aiding  evangelical  work  in  these  two  centers. 
This  action  and  the  opening  of  Associations  in  Can- 
ada, had  led  the  Committee  on  Arrangements  for  the 
following  meeting  to  call  for  an  International  Con- 
ference, and  to  invite  Associations  of  other  countries 
to  send  delegates.  Such  a  delegate  was  Mrs.  P.  D. 
Browne  of  Montreal,  who  brought  with  her  an  invi- 
tation for  the  1877  Conference  to  come  over  the  bor- 
der into  Canada.  Quebec  and  Belleville,  Ontario, 
sent  accounts  of  work.  Frances  Ridley  Havergal 
wrote  a  poem  for  the  occasion.  Mrs.  Pennefather  of 
London  (who  was  afterwards  successor  to  Miss  Ro- 
barts  as  head  of  the  Prayer  Union)  sent  a  paper  on 
Reformatory  Work,  and  another  on  The  Deaconess 
House  of  Mildmay  Park.  Protestant  mission  work 
in  France  and  Holland  and  Canada  was  reported  and 
a  letter  read  from  Mile.  Anna  de  Perrot  of  Neuchatel, 
Switzerland,   with  whose  name  the  Union  Interna- 


164       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tional  des  Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille  is  connected.  Sim- 
ilar reports  were  rendered  for  two  or  three  succeeding 
conferences. 

The  Foreign  Committee  appointed  in  1873  recom- 
mended later  that  the  work  under  consideration  in 
Rome  be  referred  to  the  existing  Missionary  Societies, 
and  the  Home  Committee  presented  a  list  of  Associa- 
tions in  good  condition  and  active  sympathy  the  one 
with  the  other. 

As  truly  as  the  personnel  of  these  Conferences  rep- 
resented the  Christian  devotion  and  power  of  the 
women  of  the  time,  so  the  papers  read  by  these  ladies 
reflected  the  economic  aspects  of  women's  lives.  Mrs. 
Terhune's  brilliant  paper  on  **Our  Daughters,''  read 
in  1875,  has  already  been  cited.  A  quotation  from 
Mrs.  McCollins'  paper  read  in  1877  may  find  a  place 
here. 

Every  conceivable  machine  for  labor-saving  is  invented. 
Work  that  would  take  days  to  perform  by  hand  is  done  in 
so  many  hours.  Even  the  devices  of  Dame  Fashion,  which 
were  entirely  beyond  the  scope  of  machinery  when  first 
introduced,  are  at  once  seized  upon  by  the  remorseless  in- 
ventor, and  before  the  article  attains  to  common  use,  the 
iron  shaft  and  buzzing  wheel  have  stolen  from  human  fingers 
the  work  that  would  have  secured  a  competency  to  hundreds. 
Every  department  of  labor  has  been  invaded  by  this  inex- 
orable genius,  agricultural,  manufacturing,  mercantile  and 
domestic — ^yea,  even  science  and  art  are  robbed  of  much 
that  is  pleasant  to  the  eye  by  the  inevitable  machine. 
With  all  this  we  are  now  struggling,  but  wait  until  Time, 
the  great  harmonizer,  shall  adjust  all  these  innovations  to 
the  needs  and  capacities  of  the  human  family. 

Many  of  us  remember  the  hue  and  cry  raised  by  the 
farmers  and  others  when  the  railroads  were  first  opened 


W.  C.  A.  CONFERENCES  165 

through  our  country.  There  would  be  no  work  for  man  or 
use  for  horses!  What  would  become  of  all  those  connected 
with  the  stage  coaches,  etc.,  etc.?  But  look  now,  and  be- 
hold the  hundreds  employed  by  the  railroads  where  the 
tens  were  needed  by  the  stage  coach. 

The  inventor  has  created  this  necessity  for  laborers.  Take 
the  sev/ing  machine,  which  has  a  place  in  every  family. 
How  loudly  it  was  cried  down  at  first,  but  with  it  has  come 
an  increased  demand  for  sewing.  New  styles  and  stitches, 
endless  hemmings,  tudcings,  frillings  and  ruflflings,  that 
would  never  have  been  dreamed  of,  are  the  result.  Inven- 
tion has  created  the  necessity. 

Other  notable  contributions  to  these  conferences 
were  the  papers  by  Miss  Juliet  Corson  in  1879  on 
** Cooking  Schools/'  and  by  Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge  in 
1885  on  **  Practical  Suggestions  Relating  to  Moral 
Elevation  and  Preventive  Work  Among  Girls." 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  New  York  Conference  in 
1887  were  the  English  party  consisting  of  Lord  Kin- 
naird,  who  had  just  succeeded  Lord  Shaftesbury  as 
president  of  the  British  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  and  his  sisters  the  Honorables  Emily  and 
Gertrude  Kinnaird,  Mr.  G.  L.  Dashwood,  a  generous 
patron  of  the  London  Associations,  and  Professor 
Henry  Drummond  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  been  teach- 
ing Bible  classes  at  the  Young  Men's  Student  Con- 
ferences at  Northfield.  Their  observations  on  Chris- 
tian work,  as  done  by  women  in  the  States,  were  most 
illuminating,  as  were  their  accounts  of  similar  activi- 
ties on  their  side  of  the  water. 

The  steady  increase  in  equipment,  forces  and  re- 
sults of  the  constituent  Associations  was  after  all  the 
most  absorbing  topic  at  all  of  these  ten  conferences, 


166       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WOEK 

shown  by  the  local  reports  and  the  practical  papers 
written  by  the  women  who  had  brought  these  things 
to  pass.  This  advance  has  already  been  noted  in  the 
preceding  chapters  on  local  city  Associations,  their 
organization  and  development. 

The  future  of  the  conference  will  be  treated  later 
on. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION — LATER  THE  AMERICAN 
COMMITTEE 

PUBLICATIONS,  Correspondence,  Visitation, 
Conferences:  the  members  of  the  Student 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  thus 
dissected  their  special  desires  to  be  realized  from  a 
general  movement.  These  had  been  furnished 
through  their  neighborly  relations  to  the  Intercollegi- 
ate Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  but,  as  the 
Iowa  Convention  had  voted,  they  wanted  **an  Inter- 
collegiate secretary  of  their  own,  a  young  woman." 
Mrs.  Miller's  committee  did  not  seem  able  to  help  in 
these  regards.  The  conferences  of  1881  and  1883,  at 
which  it  had  been  appointed,  had  neglected  to  make 
any  appropriation,  although  most  deeply  interested 
in  the  work  for  which  they  held  their  committee  re- 
sponsible. The  monthly  periodicals,  valuable  to  the 
Women's  Christian  Associations,  were  primarily  the 
organs  of  local  city  Associations  and  did  not  approach 
student  questions.  The  same  was  true  of  the  biennial 
conferences,  and  no  representatives  from  the  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association  were  sent  to  attend  the 
state  conventions  where  the  bulk  of  the  membership 
came  together  to  discuss  topics  germane  to  their  par- 

167 


168       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ticular  concerns.  The  young  women  felt  that  these 
elements  might  be  supplied  if  back  of  the  Interna- 
tional Conference  there  were  an  international  organ- 
ization, constituted  with  both  city  and  student  inter- 
ests in  view,  and  electing  at  conferences  a  permanent 
committee  or  board,  to  execute  between  conferences 
the  wishes  there  expressed  by  the  representative  of 
the  local  Associations.  With  a  fixe'd  headquarters  and 
a  committee  sitting  regularly  to  consider  student 
matters,  there  could  be  a  large,  helpful  correspond- 
ence and  the  publication  of  necessary  supplies,  and 
a  college  secretary  could  be  sent  out  to  visit  individ- 
ual student  Associations  and  meet  with  the  large 
groups  of  delegates  who  attended  the  state  conven- 
tions. 

Consequently  in  the  fall  of  1885  the  seven  organ- 
ized states  at  their  conventions  or  through  their  execu- 
tive committees  united  in  framing  a  resolution  to  be  of- 
fered to  the  conference  which  was  to  be  entertained  by 
the  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Cincinnati  in 
October,  1885.  Ajina  Downey,  the  state  chairman 
of  Indiana,  and  Ida  L.  Schell,  chairman  of  Iowa, 
accompanied  to  this  conference  Naomi  Knight  of 
Nebraska,  formerly  of  the  Northwestern  College 
Association  of  Illinois.  Other  students  were  present 
and  gave  verbal  reports. 

It  had  been  the  expectation  of  the  committee  to 
present  at  that  same  session  the  following  proposi- 
tion. 

1.  That  a  permanent   international  organization   of  the 
Young   Women's   Christian   Associations   be  formed  whose 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  169 

object  shall  be  to  promote  the  physical,  social,  mental  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  young  women,  whose  membership  shall 
consist  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  whose 
active,  i.e.,  voting  and  office  holding  membership,  shall  be 
limited  to  young  women  who  are  members  in  good  standing 
of  an  evangelical  church. 

2.  That  a  permanent  executive  committee  be  appointed  by 
the  Convention  to  oversee  the  execution  of  its  plans  in  the 
development  of  its  work. 

However,  in  many  private  conversations  with  lead- 
ing women  at  the  conference,  not  one  was  found  will- 
ing to  support  the  proposition  at  that  time.  It  was 
only  eight  years  before  at  Montreal  that  their  pres- 
ent working  constitution  had  been  substituted  for 
that  of  1875,  which  had  proposed  a  permanent  organ- 
ization. Many  Associations  were  carrying  on  impor- 
tant departments  other  than  the  promotion  of  the 
physical,  social,  mental  and  spiritual  life  of  young 
women  and  might  not  wish  to  limit  their  activities. 
The  large  range  of  work  did  not  call  for  a  uniform 
basis,  and  while  in  most  of  the  earliest  formed  As- 
sociations the  active  members  were  communicants  of 
evangelical  churches,  it  would  not  be  feasible  to 
recommend  that  basis  for  general  adoption.  With- 
out such  a  regularly  organized  body  to  define  its  func- 
tions any  executive  committee  would  naturally  be 
impossible.  The  college  representatives,  fearing  that 
a  public  presentation  would  only  cause  trouble  and 
come  to  nothing,  since  they  had  been  informed,  un- 
officially of  course,  that  the  resolutions  if  presented 
would  be  laid  upon  the  table  indefinitely,  did  not 
offer  the  resolutions  they  had  prepared,  and  some  of 
the  ladies  understood  that  action  was  to  be  postponed 


170      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

until  1887  when  it  would  be  up  for  free  discussion  at 
the  New  York  Conference.  But  the  girls  did  not 
seem  to  realize  that  and  reported  to  the  State  Com- 
mittees that  they  had  failed  in  their  mission. 

That  they  had  come  with  a  mission,  and  that  mission 
a  proposition  to  unite  in  a  new  organization,  was  un- 
known to  the  main  body  of  delegates,  who  supposed 
from  the  local  accounts  and  the  report  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Schools  and  Colleges,  that  these  student  As- 
sociations belonged  to  the  conferences  in  the  same  sense 
as  the  delegates  from  cities  belonged.  The  invitation 
to  participate  in  the  conference  had  always  been  gen- 
eral and  hearty  and  no  definite  application  to  join 
was  made  by  any  organization.  Societies  doing  the 
work  of  Women's  Christian  Associations  were  eligible 
to  send  representatives  and  read  reports:  only  the 
number  of  delegates  from  each  was  limited.  These 
meetings  were  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  conference ; 
in  fact,  it  was  definitely  held  that  delegates  were  sent 
to  get  information  rather  than  to  decide  measures.  At 
the  students'  conventions,  however,  the  regular  dele- 
gates came  from  the  evangelical  Associations  which 
had  applied  for  affiliation.  Women  guests  from  other 
Associations,  no  matter  what  their  form  of  organiza- 
tion, were  received  as  corresponding  members  only. 
Hence  the  local  Associations  did  not  suppose  they  be- 
longed to  the  International  Conference,  to  join  which 
they  had  not  made  application,  and  the  State  Associa- 
tions did  not  suppose  they  belonged  as  they  had  not 
been  encouraged  to  unfold  a  plan  of  joining  which 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  171 

they  came  to  the  conference  to  propose.  There  was 
complete  misunderstanding  on  both  sides. 

When  the  state  student  conventions  were  informed 
that  nothing  had  been  accomplished  at  Cincinnati 
relative  to  a  National  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation, they  decided  to  unite  among  themselves,  and 
elected  delegates  to  a  Constitutional  Convention,  to  be 
held  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin,  in  August,  1886. 
Several  states,  keeping  closely  in  mind  their  hope  for 
a  national  woman  secretary,  pledged  funds  in  advance 
for  the  purpose ;  others  followed  the  example  of  Iowa 
still  further  and  amended  their  constitution  so  that 
other  than  student  Associations  might  be  incorporated 
into  the  proposed  body. 

Lake  Geneva,  like  Lake  Chautauqua,  and  other  small 
inland  bodies  of  water,  has  acquired  a  reputation  from 
the  assemblies  congregating  there,  which  carries  such 
weight  in  certain  circles  that  the  question  of  its  own 
natural  beauty  is  rarely  raised,  but  its  contour,  its 
wooded  banks  and  its  shining  waters  had  been  lovely 
in  themselves  long  before  public  attention  was  called 
to  the  place.  At  one  of  the  promontory-like  entrances 
to  Williams  Bay,  west  of  the  town,  a  clergyman 's  fam- 
ily had  for  some  years  conducted  a  camp  for  Chris- 
tian people  of  congenial  tastes,  and  here  at  Camp  Col- 
lie, secretaries  of  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  had  planted  the  first  sum- 
mer conference,  under  the  name  Western  Secretarial 
Institute,  in  1884.  At  that  time  the  Chicago  trains 
which  afforded  the  best  railroad  connection,  reached 


172       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

only  the  town  of  Lake  Geneva  at  the  eastern  end  of 
the  lake,  from  whence  steamboats  carried  the  passen- 
gers to  the  few  hotels  and  private  homes  located  at 
other  points  along  the  shore.  The  Association  men 
brought  their  families  and  made  the  season  vacational 
as  well  as  vocational  in  character.  Most  of  the  young 
women  student  leaders  who  had  graduated  were  teach- 
ing in  high  schools  or  colleges,  hence  the  summer  was 
the  propitious  time  for  their  meeting.  The  wives  of 
some  of  the  leading  secretaries,  interested  in  the 
student  work,  were  to  be  at  Camp  Collie  in  August  of 
1886,  hence  the  invitation  to  hold  this  convention  at 
Camp  Collie  came  about  very  naturally  and  was  ac- 
cepted all  the  more  readily,  since  Chicago  was  the  geo- 
graphical and  railroad  center  of  the  nine  states  co- 
operating and  Lake  Geneva  was  only  two  hours  dis- 
tant. 

Nineteen  delegates  met  on  August  6  at  Bay  View 
Cottage,  Camp  Collie,  and  continued  in  session  a  full 
week.  Misses  Knight  and  Schell  explained  the  out- 
come of  their  visit  to  Cincinnati,  the  items  of  the 
articles  of  organization  as  approved  by  the  state  con- 
ventions were  discussed,  there  was  much  prayer  and 
quiet  consideration  of  the  whole  subject — for  it  was 
a  solemn  responsibility,  this  launching  of  a  national 
Christian  movement — and  then  on  August  11,  1886, 
the  National  Association  of  the  Young  Women  ^s  Chris- 
tian Associations  of  the  United  States  was  formed. 
Its  object  was  the  organization  and  development  of 
Young  Women  *s  Christian  Associations  for  the  promo- 
tion of  the  social,  physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual 


ROBT     WEIDENSALL, 

SBCRSTARV   Ol-   THii    EXfiCirriVK   COMMI 

ouNC  wen's  christian  associations 

1   UW1T»D    STATES   AND   BRITISH    PROVI  N( 

Na  148  Madison  5»treet. 


CK^^^-^^Jud  CO.    w       -^  ^gf;iy&    (^2:^^-<L,     a<^^.  /^/-i  - 

Oa,^^^  ^c.^^.^  /^uCcUic  ^-^/e  >*^^^^M2l  [^l^i 


71  <JM^  7?^    /^...,«^Z^         CU/^.'r^(Ju^.,CZ■eJ^^^,,7pt:^ 


Facsimile  of  Autograplis  of  Delegates  Who  Formed  the 
"National  Association,"  August,   1886 


•f 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  173 

condition  of  young  women,  its  membership  was  State 
Associations  composed  exclusively  of  evangelical  local 
Associations,  its  supervisory  body  was  a  National  Com- 
mittee of  the  State  Chairman,  with  at  least  seven  other 
members,  its  headquarters  were  fixed  in  Chicago  and 
the  choice  of  its  officers  and  agents  was  left  to  the  Na- 
tional Committee. 

One  of  the  four  other  members  then  elected  was 
Mrs.  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  of  Chicago.  Ellen  Drum- 
mond  Farwell  had  inherited  from  her  father  a  direct 
way  of  approaching  matters  and  the  judicial  quality  of 
reserving  decision  until  all  available  information  was 
considered.  Her  sweet  womanly  dignity,  the  humility 
of  her  Christian  life,  and  her  rare  sincerity  combined 
to  make  her  an  ideal  chairman  of  this  new  committee. 
Association  principles  were  not  strange  to  her,  for  the 
Farwell  family  had  always  been  influential  in  local 
and  International  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
councils.  Her  large  circle  of  friends  had  confidence 
in  any  movement  which  she  could  heartily  espouse, 
and  so  thoroughly  did  she  take  hold  of  all  the  issues 
involved,  that  the  state  workers  immediately  recog- 
nized her  as  a  providential  leader  and  rejoiced  in  their 
headquarters  committee. 

Three  years  later,  seventy-four  delegates  from 
twelve  states  met  in  Bloomington,  Illinois,  for  the  sec- 
ond convention.  Each  year  in  the  interim  the  resi- 
dent and  non-resident  members  of  the  National  Com- 
mittee had  conferred  in  three  day  sessions  on  the  mat- 
ters entrusted  to  them,  so  when  they  renderd  an  ac- 
count of  their  stewardship  at  Bloomington,  they  were 


174.       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

able  to  say,  what  the  delegates  knew  from  their  own 
participation  throughout  the  field,  that  to  some  de- 
gree the  four  underlying  desires  had  been  met.  The 
new  committee  had  carried  on  extensive  correspond- 
ence ;  they  had  published  model  student,  city  and  state 
constitutions,  and  had  begun  issuing  a  quarterly  peri- 
odical; they  had  secured  a  general  secretary,  Net- 
tie Dunn,  daughter  of  the  president  of  Hillsdale  Col- 
lege, Michigan,  and  she  had  made  Association  visits 
in  eleven  states,  and  attended  eighteen  of  the  twenty- 
nine  conventions  held  by  the  twelve  organized  states. 
Up  to  this  time  the  office  had  been  the  residence  of  the 
recording  gfecretary  of  the  National  Committee,  but 
one  of  the  recommendations  adopted  with  most  satis- 
faction was  that  authorizing  the  securing  of  an  office 
and  engaging  of  an  office  secretary.  When  the  one 
room  at  153  La  Salle  Street  was  rented  the  next  month, 
and  furnished  with  purchased  carpet  and  chair  and  a 
donated  desk,  the  entire  office  and  publication  depart- 
ments, the  correspondence  files,  literature  •  for  sale, 
printed  reports,  and  all  documents  were  conveyed 
thither  in  one  clothes  hamper. 

The  biennium  of  1889-91  was  the  period  of  calling 
secretaries.  Corabel  Tarr,  preceptress  of  Napa  Col- 
lege, California,  came  to  the  Committee  in  June  as  as- 
sociate general  secretary,  with  Miss  Dunn.  Thirsa  F. 
Hall  became  the  office  secretary,  succeeding  Elizabeth 
Wilson,  who  had  come  temporarily  to  the  position. 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota  and  most  of  the  other 
states  put  secretaries  into  the  field  for  whole  or  part 
time.    Newly  organized  cities,  like  Kansas  City,  Mis- 


Mrs.  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr., 
First   President   of   the  National   Association 
American  Committee) 


(Later   the 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  175 

souri,  and  Minneapolis,  needed  capable  executive  of- 
ficers and  the  question  of  how  to  find  secretaries  was 
one  of  the  most  insistent,  and  its  answer  the  most  vital. 

The  beginning  of  a  financial  basis  had  been  made  in 
this  biennium  also.  By  '89  the  total  amount  received 
was  $1,200;  by  '91  it  was  $5,000,  to  which  Mr.  T.  W. 
Phillips'  subscription  of  $1,000  was  the  largest  known 
at  that  time.  In  fact,  for  a  new  subscriber  to  send 
twenty  percent  of  the  budget  in  one  gift  might  seem 
monumental  even  in  the  later  days  when  supervisory 
support  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  has 
been  found  by  many  to  be  a  sound  investment. 

Canada  was  present  at  the  1891  convention  at  Scran- 
ton,  Pa.,  in  the  persons  of  student  and  city  delegates, 
for  though  such  Associations  had  been  affiliated  be- 
fore, the  constitution  had  been  formally  amended  in 
1889  to  read  International  in  place  of  National  Associ- 
ation, and  Miss  Tarr  had  recently  made  a  tour  in  that 
section. 

The  answer  to  the  question,  ''How  to  find  secre- 
taries" came  in  the  summer  of  1891.  This  answer 
was,  *  *  Train  them. ' '  Near  the  Straits  of  Mackinac,  on 
the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  lies  Petoskey  Bay, 
and  here  the  Bay  View  Summer  Assembly  and  Uni- 
versity had  convened  for  some  years.  A  great  audi- 
torium stood  on  the  grounds,  many  buildings  for 
various  secular  and  religious  classes,  a  gymnasium,  the 
headquarters  of  organizations  and  a  real  village  of 
summer  cottages  and  boarding  houses.  The  newest 
of  these  buildings,  Epworth  Home,  had  been  obtained 
for  the  proposed  Summer  Bible  and  Training  School 


176       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

for  class  rooms  and  dormitories,  and  a  three  weeks' 
program  for  the  Association  students  was  set  up. 
Each  student  bought  a  regular  assembly  ticket  for  two 
dollars  and  a  half,  and  paid  five  dollars  for  the  Associ- 
ation course  for  the  season,  one  dollar  for  room  rent 
weekly,  and  three  fifty  for  table  board.  The  school 
had  been  well  advertised,  the  location  was  favorably 
known,  the  idea  was  novel  and  attractive,  and  people 
came  beyond  expectation,  sixty-one  in  all.  They  filled 
Epworth  Home  and  overflowed  in  all  directions.  Of 
the  sixty-one  from  nine  states,  fifteen  were  secretaries 
in  local  or  traveling  positions,  who  previously  had  had 
no  further  training  than  office-bearing  in  college  As- 
sociations and  volunteer  work  with  the  same  State 
Committee,  perhaps,  which  later  called  them  as  em- 
ployed officers. 

The  unique  feature  of  the  School  was  the  secretaries ' 
class  conducted  by  ]\Iisses  Dunn  and  Tarr,  where  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  as  an  exact 
science  was  expounded  an  hour  each  day.  These  les- 
sons covered  the  history,  fundamental  principles  and 
methods  of  the  local,  state,  and  International  organiza- 
tions, with  particular  attention  to  the  secretary's  re- 
lation to  it  all.  One  other  daily  hour  was  the  Bible 
training  class  with  ten  lessons  each  by  Miss  Emma 
Dryer  of  the  Chicago  Bible  Society  and  Mr.  J.  H.  Elli- 
ott of  the  Minneapolis  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. Another  daily  hour  was  occupied  by  Pro- 
fessor M.  S.  Terry  of  Garret  Biblical  Institute  of 
Northwestern  University.  Then  there  were  eighteen 
lessons  by  Miss  Evelyn  MacDougal  of  Hillsdale  Col- 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  177 

lege  in  **Delsarte/'  light  apparatus  and  free  gym- 
nastics, and  every  evening  at  sunset  a  devotional 
meeting  conducted  by  different  leaders. 

In  addition  to  this  each  attendant  wished  to  ex- 
tract the  full  value  from  her  Chautauqua  ticket  and 
filled  in  her  off  hours  with  lectures  and  entertain- 
ments in  the  auditorium,  where  one  might  hear  Doctor 
James  M.  Buckley  in  popular  Bible  lectures,  or  the 
Fisk  Jubilee  Singers,  or  Ida  Benfey  in  *'Adam  Bede'' 
and  ''The  Mill  on  the  Floss,"  or  Mrs.  Margaret  E. 
Sangster  and  ' '  Marion  Harland ' '  in  the  Home  Makers 
Circle,  or  could  sing  in  the  Assembly  Chorus  or  see 
scientific  demonstrations.  One  could  sample  but  could 
not  exhaust  the  program.  A  few  tried  it  and  were  ex- 
hausted thereby,  so  outings  instead  of  improving 
lectures  were  arranged  for  the  interstices  between  As- 
sociation engagements.  Trips  to  Mackinac  and  Oden, 
and  the  outdoor  sports  in  charge  of  Mary  S.  Dunn  were 
allowed  their  rights.  All  Association  customs  have 
their  beginnings,  and  credit  for  the  first  marshmallow 
toast  is  claimed  by  this  outing  committee. 

Everybody  was  happy  and  everybody  was  bene- 
fitted. The  conference  had  come  to  stay,  but  several 
lessons  were  learned.  Three  weeks  was  too  long  a 
session.  Grounds  must  be  reserved  for  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  and  the  purposes  of 
that  conference  alone.  The  laity  from  colleges  and 
cities  and  State  Committees  wanted  the  summer  school 
as  much  as  did  secretaries,  and  the  program  must  be 
constructed  with  these  in  mind. 

Two  weeks  was  the  duration  of  the  1892  conference. 


17S       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

It  was  held  on  the  grounds  near  Camp  Collie,  Lake 
Geneva,  which  the  Western  Secretarial  Institute  had 
bought  and  equipped  with  public  buildings  and  tents 
for  living  quarters,  and  the  program  was  divided  into 
four  discussional  conferences  besides  the  Secretaries 
Class  and  the  Bible  study  and  platform  meetings  in 
which  all  united.  In  the  gymnasium  department 
basket  ball  was  the  innovation.  The  attendance  was 
one  hundred  and  forty4wo  and  so  carefully  were  the 
statistics  collated  that  the  ages  of  the  guests  were  regis- 
tered, and  averaged  twenty-four  years,  varying  from 
fifteen  minimum  to  forty-two  maximum.  Only  a  sixth 
of  the  delegates  were  secretaries.  The  summer  confer- 
ence had  come  to  stay  indeed,  but  the  question  *  *  How 
to  train  secretaries"  had  also  again  come  to  the  front. 

Notwithstanding  the  recognition  of  the  several 
groups  and  the  provision  in  separate  councils  for  the 
demands  of  each,  the  conference  was  a  unit,  and  that 
in  a  truer  sense  than  the  previous  year  when  all  at- 
tended the  same  class.  The  peace  and  retirement  of 
the  conference  site  effected  this.  All  were  of  one  ac- 
cord in  one  place.  Those  spiritual  results  possible 
only  when  people  have  somewhat  of  leisure  for  the 
formation  of  religious  habits  were  manifest. 

A  girl  might  have  heard  for  some  time  of  the  im- 
portance of  the  ]\Iorning  Watch.  Here  she  found  that 
it  was  the  practice  of  most  of  the  people  who  seemed 
to  be  accomplishing  things  for  God,  and  she  dis- 
covered for  herself  the  glory  and  the  blessing  of  a 
time  with  her  Master  in  those  early  summer  mornings 
by  the  shimmering  lake.    She  had  always  been  pre- 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  179 

paring  lessons  for  Bible  classes  as  a  student  or  a  Sun- 
day school  teacher;  here  the  Bible  truly  seemed  to  be 
God's  own  word  to  her.  His  plan  for  her  then  was 
what  she  wanted  to  find  out.  Fresh  revelations  came 
in  her  daily  private  study  as  well  as  in  the  class  hour. 
Most  of  the  conference  attendants  were  Association 
workers  in  some  capacity.  They  knew  Jesus  Christ 
as  their  Saviour  and  as  their  Leader.  Now  they  were 
making  his  acquaintance  anew  as  their  Friend. 

Some  one  said  that  in  the  three  days'  convention 
where  she  had  been,  the  new  impressions  had  come  so 
fast  and  hard  that  she  felt  a  reaction  on  her  return 
home,  but  here  she  stayed  long  enough  in  this  rare 
Christian  atmosphere  to  get  her  vigorous  impressions, 
her  reaction,  and  gain  her  balance  before  going  back 
to  the  everyday  life.  Others  said  that  their  sense 
of  Christ's  presence  and  his  place  as  the  Head  of  the 
Conference  became  so  indelibly  fixed  in  their  minds 
that  thereafter  it  was  possible  always  to  practice  the 
presence  of  God.  The  testimony  of  later  conferences 
corroborated  this  year's  witness  that  it  was  not  the  de- 
liverance of  any  one  speaker  or  one  sermon  or  one  ad- 
dress which  stood  out,  although  every  year  the  ablest 
preachers  and  teachers  were  on  the  program;  but  it 
was  the  working  together  of  the  whole  that  brought  in- 
dividuals to  understand  the  Christian  life  and  enter 
into  it  as  they  had  never  done  before. 

Not  one  group  but  the  whole  conference  looked 
steadily  at  the  task  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world, 
and  some  who  were  at  first  incredulous  at  the  idea  of 
there  being  a  missionary  call  for  them,  heard  it  at 


180       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Geneva  and  stayed  not  and  stopped  not  until  they 
had  reached  that  foreign  post  in  which  they  might 
serve  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth. 

It  may  be  that  this  new  way  of  looking  at  the 
foreign  missionary  field  was  partly  due  to  the  pres- 
ence of  Mrs.  L.  D.  Wishard,  just  returned  from  a  four 
years*  tour  around  the  world,  in  which  a  new  chapter 
had  been  begun  in  the  administration  of  Christian  mis- 
sions. The  first  Christian  Association  in  Asia  had 
been  formed  in  1884  in  Jaffna  College,  Ceylon,  by 
Frank  K.  Sanders,  a  teacher  there.  Two  years  later 
Rev.  Harlan  P.  Beach  organized  another  in  Tung 
Chow,  China.  Appeals  were  received  through  the 
mission  boards  for  city  and  student  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  of  the  North  American  pattern 
in  India  and  elsewhere.  The  World's  and  Interna- 
tional Committees  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations authorized  Mr.  L.  D.  Wishard  to  set  out  on 
a  tour  of  visitation.  Mrs.  Wishard  accompanied  him 
and  had  unusual  opportunities  for  seeing  the  part 
granted  to  the  Association  movement  in  the  foreign 
missionary  enterprise  of  the  churches.  The  men's 
convention  of  1889  ''authorized  its  Committee  to  un- 
dertake Association  extension  and  expansion  abroad 
through  foreign  missionary  secretaries,  provided  this 
were  done  on  invitation  from  the  church  agencies  and 
missionaries  already  on  the  foreign  field,  and  in  co- 
operation with  them  in  their  work,  and  provided  also 
that  the  money  needed  were  separately  solicited  as  a 
distinct  fund  for  this  department  of  the  Committee's 
work.''    The  same  day  of  October,  1889,  saw  John  T. 


THE  AMERICAN  COxMMITTEE  181 

Swift  start  West  for  Tokyo,  Japan,  and  David  Mc- 
Conaughy  sail  East  for  Madras,  India.  There  were 
even  visions  of  what  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation secretaries  might  do  in  helping  the  young 
women  of  India  and  Japan  and  other  remote  lands  to 
come  into  their  Christian  birthright. 

But  there  had  come  into  being  that  spring  another 
force  tending  to  draw  the  interest  of  members  out 
from  any  self  satisfied,  self  centered,  national  con- 
cerns into  the  larger  conception  of  what  the  word  ' '  as- 
sociation*' means,  when  prefaced  by  the  word  Chris- 
tian. It  will  be  remembered  that  foreign  branches 
were  included  in  the  first  national  scheme  of  organiza- 
tion in  England  and  that  their  United  Central  Coun- 
cil invited  delegates  from  foreign  lands  to  meet  with 
them  in  London  at  their  annual  meeting,  April,  1892, 
to  discuss  Association  work  in  all  parts  of  the  globe 
and  if  possible  form  a  World's  Association. 

Miss  R.  F.  Morse  of  New  York  City,  chairman  of 
the  New  York  State  executive  committee  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Committee,  and  Miss  Tarr 
were  appointed  to  represent  America.  They  found 
there  both  men  and  women  leaders  from  Australia, 
France,  India,  Norway,  Sweden,  Spain  and  Switzer- 
land. Since  in  several  lands  pastors  and  other  gentle- 
men were  office  holders,  these  gave  reports  of  work 
done  in  these  several  countries  and  spoke  of  the  in- 
dustrial and  social  conditions  which  would  make  ad- 
vance desirable  or  difficult.  When  it  became  evident 
to  all  that  there  was  no  radical  difficulty  which  made 
an  international  organization  impossible,  a  small  com- 


182       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

mittee  was  appointed  to  take  up  the  details  involved. 
The  English  and  American  members  of  this  commit- 
tee were  authorized  to  draw  up  a  constitution  which 
should  leave  each  nation  entirely  free  as  to  its  own 
national  methods,  growth  and  all  national  action,  and 
should  insist  only  on  the  one  essential,  that  the  basis 
of  membership  for  all  officers  and  voting  members 
be  such  as  would  embody  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 

Two  years  later  the  constitution  was  framed  and 
formally  accepted  by  the  British  and  American  execu- 
tive bodies,  which  agreed  to  be  responsible  for  the  ex- 
penses of  the  new  organization  until  the  first  Inter- 
national Conference.  The  national  Associations  of 
Norway  and  Sweden  completed  the  charter  member- 
ship. 

All  Americans  were  greatly  interested  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  World's  Constitution:  **The  General 
Secretary  shall  be  of  a  nationality  other  than  that 
where  the  Headquarters  of  the  Committee  are  lo- 
cated," for  by  common  consent  London  was  selected 
as  headquarters.  That  meant  a  secretary  from  the 
States.  We  in  America  thought  at  first  that  we  knew 
of  no  one  suitable  for  secretary,  but  God's  providence 
had  been  preparing  by  education  in  this  country  and 
abroad,  by  experience  as  a  city  executive,  a  state 
traveling  secretary  and  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the 
International  Committee,  the  person  who  was  elected 
and  who  for  ten  years  thereafter  helped  to  mold  As- 
sociation thought  and  action.  This  was  Miss  Annie 
M.  Reynolds  of  North  Haven,  Connecticut,  the  sister 


Miss  A.  M.  Reynolds, 
While  Visiting  Russia  as  World's  Secretary 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  183 

of  the  James  Bronson  Keynolds  who  had  made  the 
basic  tour  for  Christian  work  in  continental  universi- 
ties. But  it  was  not  alone  Miss  Reynolds '  trustworthy 
acquaintance  with  European  tongues,  laws  and  insti- 
tutions, nor  her  sympathetic  knowledge  of  Church 
missions  acquired  from  her  youth  up ;  it  was  her  eager- 
ness to  see  situations  from  all  the  angles  from  which 
others  were  seeing  them,  and  to  carry  out  their  com- 
bined judgment,  that  made  the  executive  committee  in 
London  realize  they  could  now  begin  attaining  their 
object:  *'the  federation,  development,  and  extension 
of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  in  all 
lands.'' 

As  soon  as  this  new  amalgamation  was  effected,  new 
lines  of  cleavage  appeared,  and  the  Canadian  Associa- 
tions, wishing  to  join  the  World's  Association  as  a 
national  unit,  withdrew  from  both  their  affiliations  in 
the  United  States.  The  International  Committee  thus 
became  The  American  Committee  at  its  Milwaukee 
Convention  in  1899. 

India  was  the  first  foreign  land  to  realize  the  dream 
of  an  American  woman  secretary.  Fifteen  years  be- 
fore the  projection  of  any  World's  Association, 
branches  had  been  started  by  English  ladies  in  Poona 
and  elsewhere  and  India  was  included  in  the  Colonial 
division  of  the  British  National  organization.  When 
Dr.  George  F.  Pentecost  was  holding  evangelistic  serv- 
ices in  India  in  the  early  '90s  the  Honor ables  Emily 
and  Gertrude  Kinnaird  were  interested  in  the  great 
numbers  of  girls  gathered  in  the  missions.  The  city 
of  Calcutta  was  deeply  stirred.    A  few  girls  of  the 


184       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Indian  community  were  beginning  to  ask  for  liberty 
and  education  under  Christian  and  Brahma  Somaj 
auspices;  the  Eurasian  community  was  commencing 
to  feel  the  need  of  some  interdenominational  link  and 
of  a  common  ground  to  meet  on;  girls  from  Great 
Britain  coming  to  houses  of  business  or  as  governesses 
needed  a  home,  and  the  British  residents  needed  some- 
thing to  bring  them  in  contact  with  the  other  communi- 
ties and  to  take  the  place  of  parish  work  and  religious 
privileges  previously  enjoyed  at  home.  The  need  of 
banding  girls  together  was  felt  and  it  was  believed 
that  a  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  could 
best  effect  this,  hence  an  organization  was  formed  in 
Calcutta  in  1891  and  IVIiss  Emily  Kinnaird,  the  mov- 
ing spirit,  fostered  its  growth  by  her  visits,  her  corre- 
spondence, the  editing  of  a  monthly  sheet  and  by  her 
unforgetting  and  unforgettable  interest.  The  Madras 
Association  arose  in  almost  identical  fashion. 

English  women  came  out  as  early  as  1893  as  for- 
eign secretaries.  These  were  all  voluntary  workers 
and  were  termed  either  honorary  secretary  or  presi- 
dent, as  the  case  might  be ;  but  the  fame  of  American 
secretaries,  truly  trained  and  professional  officers,  had 
reached  both  England  and  India.  Miss  Kinnaird  was 
at  home  in  London  on  the  occasion  of  the  Jubilee 
World's  Convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation in  1894  and  so  concerned  for  a  secretary  for 
Madras  that  she  called  together  a  group  of  Americans 
acquainted  with  India  to  discuss  the  possibility  of  ca- 
bling for  one  of  their  trained  secretaries.  After  a  time 
of  prayer  Mr.  Bierce  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  arose  and  said : 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  185 

'*My  niece  Agnes  is  the  girl  for  it."  Mrs.  David  Mc- 
Conaughy  of  Madras  was  present,  about  to  leave  for 
America,  and  was  commissioned  to  consult  Miss  Morse, 
American  member  of  the  World's  Committee,  and 
urge  the  claims  of  Madras. 

This  was  the  outcome.  Agnes  Gale  Hill,  then  gen- 
eral secretary  of  the  Toledo  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association,  had  entered  into  communication  with 
her  church  board  in  relation  to  an  appointment  to 
China  but  nothing  had  been  settled.  Miss  Morse  gave 
her  the  call  from  Madras.  Toledo  volunteered  financial 
support,  for  the  World's  Committee  was  not  as  yet 
fully  enough  organized  to  finance  any  undertaking. 
Miss  Hill  spent  the  early  fall  of  1894  visiting  colleges 
and  state  conventions  under  the  Student  Volunteer 
]\Iovement,  sailed  later  in  the  year  and  by  February, 
1895,  was  safely  in  Lladras,  the  pioneer  of  the  Ameri- 
can foreign  department.  These  were  the  words  of 
her  acceptance:  "In  college  I  gave  myself  to  God 
for  Association  service ;  in  the  Association  I  gave  my- 
self to  God  for  foreign  service;  in  the  call  of  the 
Madras  Association  I  recognize  a  combination  of  these 
two  calls  and  I  give  myself  willingly.'^ 

She  found  Madras  counting  at  this  time,  the  date 
of  its  third  anniversary,  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  members,  English,  Eurasian  and  Tamil.  There 
was  no  headquarters,  nor  any  means  of  communication 
between  the  five  places  where  the  five  small  branches 
met,  except  the  warm  and  primitive  method  of  walk- 
ing. In  all  the  branches  there  were  Bible  classes  and 
sewing  circles  and  shortly  afterwards  some  physical 


186       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

and  social  features  were  introduced  which  this  good 
tennis  player  and  ingenious  social  entertainer  knew 
well  how  to  handle.  Her  vacation  weeks  were  spent 
at  three  of  the  hill  station  branches,  because  there  was, 
of  course,  no  traveling  secretary;  and  this  newly  ar- 
rived American  had  much  to  give  in  Bible  exposition 
and  spiritual  teaching  by  way  of  refreshing  these 
struggling  little  Associations,  as  well  as  in  advice  upon 
ways  and  means  which  would  differ  almost  as  much 
from  those  in  Madras,  as  her  career  as  general  secre- 
tary in  Toledo  had  differed  from  that  as  Association 
president  at  the  University  of  Illinois. 

This  combination,  or  rather  the  impossibility  of  con- 
tinuing such  a  combination,  led  her  to  ask  in  one  of 
her  first  letters  for  reinforcements.  Her  colleagues 
were  all  honorary  British  workers.  She  felt  that 
there  might  be  such  in  America.  *'God  only  knows. 
Perhaps  He  is  turning  the  heart  of  some  qualified 
young  woman  to  come  out  and  help  me."  And  the 
first  recruit  was  her  own  sister  Mary. 

One  of  the  charter  members  of  the  International 
Committee  of  Young  Men 's  Christian  Associations,  Mr. 
James  Stokes,  making  a  world  tour  in  1896,  wrote 
home:  "I  expect  to  spend  the  month  of  October  in 
China,  reaching  India  via  Burmah  about  December 
first  to  fifteenth,  and  we  shall  probably  go  direct  from 
Burmah  to  Calcutta."  But  plans  were  changed  and 
late  one  afternoon  Mr.  Stokes  and  his  sisters  entered 
the  port  of  Madras  instead.  Mr.  McConaughy,  the 
American  secretary  of  the  Men's  Association,  came  on 
board  and  escorted  them  to  a  missionary  conference 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  187 

attended  by  fifty  or  sixty  missionaries,  among  them 
Mary  B.  Hill,  who  had  arrived  a  few  weeks  before. 
Mr.  Stokes  knew  that  the  World's  Executive  Commit- 
tee had  conferred  with  Miss  Morse  about  Agnes  Hill 
becoming  national  secretary  for  India.  With  Mr. 
Stokes  the  future  and  the  present  were  synonymous. 
The  Young  Men 's  Conference  in  Calcutta  to  which  he 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McConaughy  were  bound  would 
also  be  attended  by  many  ladies  connected  with  the 
English-formed  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion branches.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  calling  a 
women's  conference  at  the  same  time,  and  invited 
Agnes  Hill  to  go  on  with  the  party,  since  an  extra 
cabin  had  been  providentially  put  at  his  disposal  that 
day.  A  British  account  of  the  founding  of  the  India 
National  Association  mentions  Mr.  Stokes  as  *' acting 
with  the  promptitude  of  an  American." 

Miss  Hill  also  accepted  with  the  promptitude  of  an 
American  and  the  morning  after  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Stokes  they  were  all  outward  bound  for  Calcutta. 
The  organization  was  launched  and  officered.  An  of- 
fice was  set  aside  in  the  Calcutta  building.  Agnes 
Hill  was  called  as  National  Secretary  and  sent  on  to 
London  for  a  little  breathing  time  between  the  ex- 
hausting local  experience  in  Madras  and  the  still 
more  exhausting  labors  ahead  in  her  parish  of  India, 
Burmah  and  Ceylon,  1,681,506  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  297,562,876  souls,  Brahmanists,  Budd- 
hists, Sikhs,  Jains,  Zoroastrians,  Jews,  Mohammedans, 
Eoman  and  Protestant  Christians  and  adherents  of 
still  other  faiths. 


188       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

In  the  year  1899,  when  the  International  Committee 
changed  its  name  to  The  American  Committee  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  in  order  to  re- 
strict its  efforts  to  the  United  States  alone,  Miss  Morse, 
Miss  Reynolds  and  Miss  Rouse  were  all  present  at  the 
Biennial  Convention,  speaking  of  the  relation  of  this 
American  membership  to  young  women  in  other  lands, 
and  a  foreign  department  was  created,  which,  owing 
to  Miss  Morse's  residence  in  New  York  City,  was  to 
work  from  the  East,  rather  than  from  the  Chicago 
headquarters.  Up  to  that  time  she  had  been  in  her- 
self the  whole  foreign  department,  but  now  she  was 
to  associate  other  ladies  with  her  to  help  in  securing 
and  equipping  and  maintaining  American  secretaries 
whom  the  World's  Association  would  appoint  to  the 
various  foreign  fields.  Miss  Morse 's  own  best  remem- 
bered presentation  was  at  the  Nashville  Convention 
of  1901  when  she  closed  an  address  crammed  with  in- 
formation, with  this  inquiry : 

"But  you  say  we  are  already  sending  out  missionaries  to 
the  heathen  world.  Why  should  we  send  the  Association? 
If  our  Association  fills  a  place  of  need  here  as  a  part  of 
church  work  which  cannot  be  done  within  church  walls,  if 
it  is  needed  to  develop  a  Christian  womanhood  in  this 
Christian  land,  to  convict  nominal  Christian  women  and 
awaken  them  to  their  responsibility  for  their  sisters  here, 
what  shall  we  say  of  the  need  for  the  women  in  India  and 
China?  Is  there  less  need  of  the  Association  work  for 
them? 

She  had  in  her  hand  that  day  the  document  signed 
by  women  of  every  influential  class  in  the  city  of 
Shanghai,  begging  The  American  Committee  to  open 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  189 

an  Association  there.  Miss  Morse  was  not  present  at 
the  Wilkes-Barre  Convention  of  1903 — it  was  not  long 
before  she  laid  down  all  her  duties  and  rested  forever 
from  her  labors — but  her  successor  introduced  Martha 
Berninger,  who  had  accepted  this  call  to  China,  and 
Alice  Newell,  who  was  to  reinforce  the  little  group  of 
American  secretaries  in  India.  By  1906  there  were 
ten  Americans  serving  in  India,  China  and  Japan  and 
a  candidate  ready  for  South  America.  Miss  Morse's 
memorial  stands  in  Lahore,  India,  where  Morse  Hall 
houses  a  good  general  work,  a  fine  educational  depart- 
ment and  an  ample  dormitory. 

While  the  International  Committee  was  thus  taking 
its  part  in  extending  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  work  in  the  outer  circle,  the  home  expan- 
sion was  also  going  forward.  The  pioneer  period  was 
passing  and  the  era  of  specialization  had  set  in.  This 
was  noticeable  in  every  way,  particularly  in  the  acces- 
sion of  staff  members,  the  opening  of  additional  sum- 
mer conferences,  and  the  training  of  employed  of- 
ficers. 

At  the  time  of  Miss  Tarr's  retirement  in  November, 
1892,  Effie  K.  Price  of  the  faculty  of  Northwestern 
Academy  succeeded  her  as  general  secretary.  This 
was  January  first  of  that  ''World's  Fair  Year,"  as 
1893  has  always  been  called  by  all  the  people  in  any 
way  affected  by  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  in 
Chicago.  The  office  had  been  provided  for,  and  the 
editorial  work  on  *'The  Evangel/'  which  had  suc- 
ceeded ''The  Quarterly''  in  1889,  had  been  carried  by 
Elizabeth  Wilson  in  addition  to  her  traveling  duties. 


190       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

but  the  local  Association  wanted  more  expert  help 
than  these  general  workers  could  afford.  After  a  little 
Florence  Simms  was  called  from  DePauw  University 
as  college  secretary  and  Harriet  Taylor  from  the  state 
secretaryship  of  New  York  as  city  secretary.  Miss 
Taylor  was  enthusiastic  and  constructive  in  all  the 
city  problems,  but  her  training  and  experience  as  a 
teacher  gleamed  through  the  new  profession  she  had 
chosen  and  the  class  work  of  the  city  Associations 
broadened  into  a  true  educational  system.  In  1901 
the  progress  of  local  Associations  undertaking  ex- 
tension into  industrial  centers  was  so  marked  that 
Helen  F.  Barnes,  state  secretary  for  Michigan  and 
Ohio,  was  called  as  a  specialist  in  this  field.  Mary  S. 
Dunn's  work  among  the  city  Associations  had  con- 
vinced her  that  the  revenue  producing  departments  in 
cities  were  capable  of  a  great  improvement  and  her 
duties  were  so  rearranged  as  to  give  her  the  title  of 
economic  secretary.  Esther  L.  Anderson  as  general 
secretary  of  Detroit  had  so  thoroughly  interwoven  all 
the  sections  of  the  Association  with  the  religious 
activities  that  she  was  called  as  religious  work  secre- 
tary. Emma  Hays  was  chiefly  occupied  aiding  state 
secretaries  in  communities  desiring  local  organization. 
In  the  student  department  lines  were  not  so  closely 
drawn.  Besides  visitation,  conference  preparation  was 
insistent  in  its  demand  upon  the  student  staff,  con- 
sisting after  1889,  of  Bertha  Conde,  Ruth  Paxson, 
Frances  Bridges,  Margaret  Kyle  and  others  from  time 
to  time. 

Ever  since  the  summer  of  1892,  when  the  main  prin- 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  191 

ciples  of  the  summer  conferences  were  crystallized, 
local  and  state  workers  had  been  valuing  them  for 
what  they  could  do  for  young  women  through  the 
Association  channels,  but  there  were  many  others  both 
in  and  out  of  the  organized  movement  who  craved  at- 
tendance for  the  inspiration  to  their  own  Christian 
lives  and  the  equipment  for  better  Christian  service 
in  any  sphere.  After  the  men's  student  conference, 
which  was  organized  at  Mt.  Hermon  in  1886,  had  been 
increasing  in  power  for  each  of  its  seven  years,  its 
program  and  spirit  appealed  so  strongly  to  the  young 
women  who  spent  their  summers  in  the  village  of  East 
Northfield  that  a  number  of  them  petitioned  Mr. 
Moody  to  open  a  similar  conference  for  young  women. 
Entirely  in  sympathy  with  the  purpose,  but  unable 
to  give  the  matter  his  personal  attention  because  he 
was  to  be  engaged  almost  entirely  in  the  great  World 's 
Fair  Evangelistic  Campaigns  through  the  season,  he 
invited  the  conference  to  the  Northfield  Seminary 
grounds  and  put  all  arrangements  into  the  hands  of 
the  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations.  Mrs.  A.  J.  Gordon  was  se- 
lected as  presiding  officer  until  his  arrival.  The  an- 
nouncement, supplemented  by  visits  to  the  Eastern 
colleges  by  Miss  Price,  the  leader  of  the  conference, 
resulted  in  an  attendance  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
one,  who  found  a  program  of  Bible  Training  Class, 
inductive  Bible  class,  Christian  Life  Work  hour, 
simultaneous  college  and  city  conferences,  with  an 
afternoon  of  recreation  and  the  never  forgotten 
Round  Top  twilight  meeting,  and  the  platform  ad- 


192       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

dresses  by  Miss  Dodge,  Mrs.  W.  S.  Bainbridge  and 
other  appealing  speakers.  A  summary  may  be  found 
in  the  letter  of  a  Wellesley  girl:  *'It  may  not  be 
said  that  one  feature  was  helpful  and  another  not — 
all  were  helpful,  but  some  by  their  very  nature  were 
destined  to  exert  a  greater  influence  than  others. 
The  interchange  of  views  and  suggestions  in  regard  to 
methods  and  means  of  Christian  life  were  of  untold 
value.'* 

So  true  and  wholesome  was  the  Christian  influence 
exerted  by  this  conference,  that  when  its  growth 
pointed  to  reorganization  many  Association  members 
could  hardly  conceive  of  any  change  as  endurable  or 
of  a  conference  at  all  apart  from  the  place  where  it 
was  born.  But  specialization  was  again  in  order  and 
by  removing  to  Silver  Bay  on  Lake  George  students 
and  city  delegates  could  each  have  a  conference  de- 
vised and  executed  to  meet  their  specific  needs.  Then 
the  crowded  Lake  Geneva  Conference  was  divided 
on  the  same  principle.  The  romantic  story  of  the 
founding  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Conference,  the  swift 
development  of  Association  interests  in  the  Southern 
Atlantic  and  eastern  gulf  states  through  the  medium 
of  the  Southern  Conferences,  these  are  definitely  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  present  available  space.  In- 
finitely beyond  any  written  record  are  the  spiritual 
histories  of  the  thousands  and  thousands  of  young 
women  who  made  their  way  to  these  summer  confer- 
ences and  in  them  found,  as  a  frequent  conference 
speaker  had  said,  ^Hhe  entrance  to  the  Christian  life 
or  a  new  devotion  to  Christian  tastes  and  Christian 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  193 

service,  habits  of  Bible  study,  interest  in  missions,  a 
straightforward  sense  of  duty,  new  conceptions  of 
prayer,  and  deeper  love  for  Christ  as  personal  Lord. ' ' 

Every  new  organization  and  department  made  a  call 
for  more  employed  officers.  Every  conference  made  a 
call  for  qualified  women  to  take  up  what  has  for  more 
than  twenty  years  been  termed  **a  new  profession  for 
women.''  The  Summer  Bible  and  Training  School 
had  become  a  lay  women's  conference;  an  ** Inter- 
national Association  School"  board  of  trustees  which 
was  secured  by  the  International  Committee,  but  not 
organized  as  an  integral  part  of  its  work,  had  estab- 
lished a  branch  as  training  ground,  and  finally  con- 
fined its  work  to  that  branch,  relinquishing  the  school 
features;  direction  of  practical  work  in  the  Associa- 
tion settlement  had  ended  in  the  supervising  secretary 
carrying  the  local  burdens,  and  the  students  becoming 
neighborhood,  not  Association,  experts ;  summer  terms 
were  too  short  for  professional  education,  but  too  long 
for  the  strength  of  the  students,  chiefly  young  alumnae 
already  taxed  by  their  senior  year  in  college  or  their 
first  year  of  teaching.  In  each  of  these  experiments 
some  caught  such  a  vision  of  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  possibilities,  that  they  were  soon 
carrying  large  responsibilities,  such  as  Clarissa  H. 
Spencer,  who  succeeded  Miss  Reynolds  as  secretary  of 
the  World's  Committee,  Mabel  Cratty,  general  secre- 
tary of  The  American  Committee  and  later  of  the  Na- 
tional Board,  and  A.  Estelle  Paddock  and  Frances 
Cross  of  the  Foreign  Department,  all  from  the  summer 
class  of  1902. 


194,       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Finally  the  Wilkes-Barre  convention  of  1903  in- 
structed The  American  Committee  to  undertake  a 
permanent  Institute  under  its  own  auspices.  In  Sep- 
tember a  conclave  deliberated  upon  the  matter.  The 
chief  objections  brought  out  were  these.  The  com- 
mittee had  no  money  for  the  purpose.  There  was  no 
building.  There  was  no  suitable  provision  for  prac- 
tice work.  There  was  no  available  Bible  teacher,  nor 
could  a  full  course  of  study  be  set  up.  Last  of  all,  no 
students  would  come.  The  assets  were  as  follows: 
The  American  Committee  willing  to  make  an  attempt 
and  a  secretarial  committee  chairman,  Mrs.  Irwin 
Rew,  devoted  to  the  undertaking.  A  parlor  confer- 
ence in  Oak  Park,  just  outside  of  Chicago,  gave  en- 
couragement as  to  funds,  a  suitable  partly  furnished 
house  was  leased,  Bible  instructors  from  the  four 
theological  seminaries  of  Chicago  became  available, 
the  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy  and  the  Chicago 
School  of  Physical  Education  were  making  their  initial 
ventures  that  same  season  and  gladly  opened  their 
classes  to  our  students;  factories  and  churches  wel- 
comed noon  and  evening  clubs  among  their  girls  and 
young  women. 

The  house  was  dedicated  by  an  Extension  Secre- 
taries* Conference,  December  29  to  January  1,  and  the 
first  term  of  the  Institute  proper  opened  January  2, 
1904.  Seven  students  arrived  sooner  or  later  and 
were  extremely  loyal,  reserving  their  criticism  of  the 
meager  equipment  until  the  day  of  their  departure, 
when  they  politely  suggested  benefits  which  might  ac- 
crue to  their  successors  should  certain  improvements 


jfS^  %,ji 

*#=: 

i:' 

^ 

jf^mj 

^^^H^^^r  '-^^JM 

H     '^  "^^**  »^S!H 

. 

^^ 

BL-'  "^/Ti^B 

r-el 

r*. 

M       K 

GO 


a} 


?5    H 

« 


THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  195 

be  made.  As  the  course  lasted  only  three  months  an- 
other group  registered  in  the  spring  and  a  still  larger 
group  for  the  next  fall.  This  humble  beginning  did 
not  convince  the  Association  public  of  the  necessity 
for  professional  training  and  the  life  of  the  Institute 
hung  in  the  balance.  But  in  March  of  the  third  year, 
the  house  burned,  the  house,  not  the  Institute — ^that 
had  just  begun  to  live.  A  special  meeting  of  The 
American  Committee  was  called  and  authorized  Eliza- 
beth Wilson,  who  since  her  return  to  the  committee  in 
1900  had  looked  after  secretarial  matters,  to  obtain 
a  furnished  house  to  complete  that  year's  classes  and 
lease  another  property  to  accommodate  the  school  the 
next  fall.  Mrs.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  Sr.,  started  a 
refurnishing  fund  which  other  like-minded  friends 
augmented,  and  when  the  fourth  year  opened  at  the 
new  Ashland  Boulevard  address,  with  more  than 
enough  students  to  fill  the  house,  the  problem  of 
whether  anybody  would  attend  such  a  school  was  also 
a  little  nearer  its  solution. 

The  twenty  years  from  1886  to  1906  had  immeasur- 
ably increased  the  vision  of  a  national  organization. 
It  was  not  merely  a  body  through  which  local  members 
should  be  served  with  ''publications,  correspondence, 
visitation  and  conventions,"  but  a  medium  which 
should  relate  them  with  other  nations  bearing  mutual 
obligations. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    INTERNATIONAL    BOARD    OF    WOMEN 'S    AND    YOUNG 

women's  christian  associations 


T 


'*A  I  ^0  everything  there  is  a  season  and  a  time 
to  every  purpose  under  the  heavens. ' ' 
This  was  the  opening  sentence  of  a 
paper  on  **  Growth  and  Perpetuity  Necessary  to  Con- 
ference Work/'  which  Mrs.  C.  R.  Springer,  President 
of  the  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Saint  Louis, 
read  at  the  Eleventh  International  Conference,  which 
met  in  Chicago  in  1891.  The  argument  which  she  ad- 
vanced was  that  while  many  individual  Associations 
had  seen  wonderful  increase,  the  Conference  as  a  whole 
might  have  been  benefited  by  a  centralization  of  power 
which  could  bridge  the  distance  between  conventions. 
The  Conference  would  retain  its  deliberative  functions, 
but  be  legislative  as  well,  and  the  central  cabinet 
would  be  able  to  act  decisively  upon  questions  that 
might  arise  requiring  prompt  action  if  the  progress 
and  development  of  the  whole  Conference  were  to  be 
ensured.  The  hearty  reception  of  Mrs.  Springer's 
paper  showed  that  other  representative  women  had 
been  thinking  in  the  same  direction,  and  after  much 
prayer  and  deliberation  a  new  constitution  was  made 
operative  and  became  the  basis  of  incorporation.     This 

196 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  BOARD  197 

called  for  an  organization  to  be  known  as  The  Inter- 
national Board  of  Women's  Christian  Associations,  its 
object,  to  unite  in  one  central  body  present  and  future 
Women's  Christian  Associations,  these  and  kindred 
Associations  to  be  admitted  to  membership  by  election 
of  the  Board  in  session.  There  should  be  an  executive 
committee  elected  by  the  Conference,  which  now  be- 
came the  regular  biennial  meeting  of  the  Board,  this 
committee  to  consist  of  the  full  quota  of  officers,  in- 
cluding one  vice-president  for  each  state,  and  from 
the  British  provinces  or  other  countries  entering  into 
international  relations.  The  bylaws  provided  for 
membership  assessment  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
general  work.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  Conference, 
appreciating  the  grasp  Mrs.  Springer  had  of  the  whole 
scheme  of  international  organization  and  knowing  her 
success  in  relating  the  many  ramifications  of  the  com- 
plex St.  Louis  Association,  should  have  elected  her 
president  of  the  Board,  at  both  this  and  the  succeed- 
ing Conference.  Her  alertness,  prodigious  faith,  and 
her  joy  in  accomplishment  had  been  proved  again  and 
again  through  the  conference  days  of  previous  years, 
as  she  had  been  a  regular  attendant  since  1877. 

Another  important  resolution  adopted  at  this  time 
was  to  the  effect  that  all  organizations  forming  after 
this  time  should  take  the  name  of  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  and  those  already  existing  might 
change  to  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  at 
their  option.  This  was  following  the  example  of 
Chicago,  which  had  been  a  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  since  1887,  although  the  other  Associa- 


198       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tions  from  New  York  State  west  to  the  California 
boundary  still  kept  the  title,  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation. But  it  was  felt  that  the  purpose  of  the  two, 
*'to  promote  the  spiritual,  mental  and  physical  inter- 
ests of  women,  together  with  other  Christian  work,'* 
were  identical,  hence  the  resolution.  Its  natural  out- 
come was  the  amendment  of  the  constitution  at  the 
next  meeting  to  include  these  new  titles,  reading 
''The  International  Board  of  Women's  and  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations." 

Two  distinguished  guests  of  the  Chicago  Conference 
of  1891  were  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Lady  Managers  of  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition,  and  Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin,  Vice-president 
for  the  Woman's  Branch  of  the  Auxiliary  for  the 
World's  Congresses  of  1893,  which  formed  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  Exposition.  Mrs.  Palmer  spoke  par- 
ticularly of  the  Woman's  Building  in  which  exhibits 
of  women's  work  of  all  kinds  were  to  be  collected  and 
displayed,  and  urgently  asked  for  an  exhibit  from  the 
Associations  in  the  International  Conference,  that  the 
Exposition,  which  would  in  any  case  be  an  important 
moment  for  women,  might  become  an  inspired  one 
for  the  sex.  Mrs.  Henrotin  spoke  of  this  counciling  of 
the  nations  as  a  comparatively  new  factor  in  the 
slow  progress  of  fraternity,  and  requested  that  the 
Women's  Christian  Association  be  included  in  the  list 
of  Congresses  endeavoring  to  unite  all  people  in  the 
common  cause  of  the  perfection  and  advancement  of 
humanity.    Both  invitations  were  accepted. 

All  visitors  to  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  Chicago 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  BOARD  199 

remember  the  "Woman's  Building  near  the  Fifty-Sev- 
enth Street  entrance  to  Jackson  Park.  It  stood  white 
and  glistening  like  its  neighbors,  like  them  a  surprise 
to  matter  of  fact  people  who  had  not  realized  that 
apparently  solid  marble  buildings  could  spring  up  for 
one  brief  season  of  unreckoned  beauty,  and  then  dis- 
appear like  the  flowers  of  one  summer.  Unlike  its 
neighbors  this  white  plaster  building,  while  classical 
and  old  world  in  its  exterior,  was  within  entirely  novel 
and  almost  revolutionary.  Everything  was  made  by 
woman's  hands,  wrought  by  woman's  mind,  or  called 
into  action  by  woman's  will.  Across  a  whole  end  of 
the  second  story  extended  a  great  Organization  Room, 
in  which  there  was  found  a  place  for  women's  organ- 
izations, religious,  philanthropic  and  educational  in 
character,  corresponding  in  fact  to  all  women's  inter- 
ests where  cooperation  had  set  in.  At  the  end  of  the 
main  aisle,  the  observed  of  all  observers,  was  a  wall 
space  covered  with  decorative  shields  bearing  in  rich 
lettering  the  name  and  date  of  organization  of  the  sev- 
eral Associations  affiliated  with  the  International 
Board.  This  was  supplemented  in  the  booth  below 
by  charts  and  photographs  and  yearbooks,  which  were 
shown  and  explained  to  visitors  by  ladies  who  had 
volunteered  for  that  purpose.  No  labor  nor  personal 
expense  had  been  spared  by  the  president  of  the  board 
in  making  this  a  success. 

Naturally  the  presence  of  so  many  leaders  at  the  con- 
gresses and  upon  the  Fair  grounds  through  the  season 
of  1893  brought  very  close  to  their  hearts  the  question 
of  protecting  young  girls  attending  such  fairs  as  visi- 


200       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tors,  or  employed  upon  the  grounds  in  connection  with 
the  exhibits,  and  with  the  amusement  and  restaurant 
concessions.  While  no  other  of  the  large  expositions 
since  then  erected  a  Woman's  Building  which  called 
for  so  elaborate  an  exhibit  as  in  Chicago,  yet  at  Buf- 
falo, 1901,  Paris,  France,  1900,  St.  Louis,  1904,  and 
Portland,  Oregon,  1905,  there  were  opportunities  for 
advertising  certain  Association  features  of  help  to 
young  women  and  for  undertaking  Travelers'  Aid 
work  either  in  connection  with  that  department  in  the 
local  city  where  the  exposition  was  held  or  in  conjunc- 
tion with  other  movements  concerned  for  the  welfare 
of  young  women. 

International  cooperation  had  been  gained  through 
the  appointment  of  an  American  correspondent  of 
Travelers'  Aid  to  the  World's  Travelers'  Aid  Society. 
Her  report  and  that  of  a  special  committee  on  a  plan 
of  organization  provided  perhaps  the  chief  topic  of 
consideration  for  the  St.  Louis  Conference  of  1903. 
The  sense  of  the  meeting  was  expressed  by  resolutions 
which  were  left  to  the  council  to  execute. 

The  work  naturally  divides  itself  into  two  parts — ^the 
agent,  and  those  who  are  to  help  the  traveler  at  the  com- 
mencement of  her  journey. 

First,  with  regard  to  the  first  part,  helping  the  agent, 
we  suggest  that  there  be  a  directory,  for  the  use  of  the 
agent,  of  all  Associations  in  the  United  States  that  would 
be  willing  to  look  after  a  girl  if  communicated  with. 

Second,  that  every  Association  should  pledge  itself  never 
to  turn  away  a  girl  on  any  condition  or  under  any  circum- 
stances. 

Third,  when  only  a  few  trains  or  boats  can  be  reached 
or  met,  preference  be  given  to  local  trains,  as  girls  in  near- 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  BOARD  201 

by  towns  more  frequently  come  into  the  cities  for  work  or 
are  led  to  leave  home  by  advertisements  in  papers. 

Fourth,  that  we  make  in  the  near  future  Travelers'  Aid 
work  a  special  feature  of  our  Board  and  urge  every  single 
Association  to  have  a  Travelers'  Aid  department. 

Fifth,  urge  that  every  Association  have  a  director  whose 
sole  business  it  will  be  to  act  as  Travelers'  Aid  director. 

Sixth,  such  director,  every  Aid  agent,  and  all  girls  known 
to  be  about  to  travel,  be  provided  with  a  badge,  uniform 
in  color,  shape  and  size. 

On  the  second  point,  those  who  are  to  help  the  traveler 
at  the  commencement  of  her  journey,  we  suggest: 

First,  that  each  Association  pledge  itself  to  assume  a 
certain  district  to  investigate  as  to  where  we  can  place  a 
voluntary  worker. 

Second,  that  we  secure  helpful  literature  and  disseminate 
it  with  careful  attention  and  economy.  This  literature 
should  comprise: 

a.  Specific  instruction  to  the  volunteer  worker;  and 

b.  Specific  information  to  the  public;  both  prepared  by 

a  committee  of  the  Board. 

This  literature  could  be  distributed  through  the  many 
church  societies  and  home  missionary  societies. 

Third,  that  there  should  be  large  hangers  in  every 
depot  and  steamer  and  in  every  available  place. 

During  the  Travelers'  Aid  campaign  in  connection 
with  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  in  1904,  278,- 
000  leaflets,  circulars,  placards,  and  cards  were  printed 
and  distributed  through  auxiliaries  and  individuals 
from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  and  from  ocean  to  ocean; 
7,820  letters  were  received  and  answered  or  sent  from 
headquarters  in  New  York  and  St.  Louis.  At  the 
St.  Louis  headquarters,  2,988  persons  were  directed 
to  provide  homes  for  lodging.  Eight  hundred  and 
sixty-six  persons  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe  were 
lodged  from  one  to  ten  days,  of  whom  397  were  en- 
tirely alone  and  200  were  without  money. 


202       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

With  such  a  background  for  an  incentive  to  large 
effort,  the  International  Board  entered  into  the  forma- 
tion of  an  Exposition  Travelers'  Aid  Committee  for 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  Centennial  Exposition  (Portland, 
Oregon,  1905)  in  which  The  American  Committeee,  the 
Girls'  Friendly  Society  of  America,  the  National 
Council  of  Jewish  Women,  the  International  Order  of 
the  King's  Daughters  and  Sons,  the  Women's  Aux- 
iliary of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the  Inter- 
national Sunshine  Society,  actively  cooperated.  In 
Portland  also  there  had  been  constituted  a  Travelers' 
Aid  Association  of  eleven  groups  of  women  accustomed 
to  forward  civic  and  religious  enterprises. 

Mrs.  William  S.  Stewart,  of  Philadelphia,  was  chair- 
man of  the  whole  matter,  and  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
Exposition,  though  a  smaller  fair  than  that  at  St. 
Louis  the  preceding  year,  showed  an  appalling  need 
for  the  protective  work  carried  on,  and  proved  to  the 
International  Board  Conference  that  cooperative 
Travelers'  Aid  work  is  needed  in  this  country,  and 
that  every  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
should  share  by  appointing  Travelers'  Aid  matrons  to 
give  protection  and  information  wherever  many  are 
traveling  by  land  or  water.  The  1905  Conference 
specified  this  as  the  department  upon  which  attention 
should  be  concentrated. 

The  International  Board  also  emphasized  work  at 
large  summer  assemblies. 

Owing  to  the  importance  of  Chautauqua  Lake,  New 
York,  as  a  gathering  place  for  people  alive  to  every  re- 
ligious and  philanthropic  work,  it  was  decided  to  open 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  BOARD  203 

there  each  season  a  room  as  headquarters,  which  would 
be  presided  over  by  a  hostess  conversant  with  Associa- 
tion progress  and  methods.  This  was  most  happily 
carried  on  from  1901  through  several  summers.  In 
1902  over  500  guests  registered.  In  1904  Dr.  Anna 
L.  Brown,  General  Secretary  of  the  International 
Board,  kept  open  house  here  while  doing  preliminary 
work  for  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  Travelers' 
Aid  Campaign,  and  she  and  others  accepted  invita- 
tions to  speak  before  the  Chautauqua  Woman's  Club, 
that  audience  composed  of  members  from  every  state 
of  this  Union,  each  sorting  over  from  the  daily  pro- 
grams those  things  which  she  will  weave  into  her  next 
year's  web  in  her  own  home  club.  It  is  an  audience 
invaluable  to  any  such  propaganda  as  that  of  the  Co- 
operative Travelers'  Aid. 

Some  kinds  of  Christian  duty  one  performs  with 
faithfulness,  some  with  delight.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  spirit  animating  everyone  who  had  a  hand 
in  the  unique  work  at  Monteagle.  Here  in  a  mountain 
plateau  of  Tennessee,  the  Southern  Chautauqua  had 
assembled  upon  its  grounds,  buildings  for  a  summer 
colony  of  thousands  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the 
South.  Headquarters  of  the  International  Board 
were  established  in  a  large  house  where  young  women 
resided  much  as  in  a  city  boarding  home.  There  were 
anniversary  days  and  inspiring  meetings.  But  on 
the  outside  of  this  walled  city,  the  mountain  boys  and 
girls  were  without  the  advantages  which  the  ladies  on 
the  grounds  believed  could  be  theirs  by  a  little  effort. 
First  a  library  was  started,  then  a  training  school  of 


204       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

household  arts — the  Louise  Cecile  School  was  opened 
February,  1905 — then  a  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  came  into  being,  directing  the  local  work, 
and  passing  on  further  up  the  mountains  the  reading 
matter  which  had  been  first  used  in  their  attractive 
and  popular  library.  It  is  not  strange  that  the 
Women's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
in  that  whole  region  found  inspiration  in  their  com- 
ings together  at  Monteagle. 

But  the  real  history  of  the  International  Board  and 
of  the  Associations  through  which  it  touched  the  life 
of  young  womanhood  in  the  great  American  cities  is 
told  better  by  its  periodicals.  First  the  local  papers 
were  circulated:  The  Earnest  Worker,  published  in 
Cleveland  from  June,  1874,  on ;  Faith  and  Works,  the 
Philadelphia  paper  which  started  in  September,  1875 ; 
The  Christian  Worker,  which  Utica  began  to  publish 
the  very  same  month ;  and  The  Gleaner,  of  Memphis, 
dating  from  1883;  all  these  contained  news  of  their 
own  and  other  Associations,  with  original  and  selected 
readings.  In  April,  1894,  there  was  launched  The 
International  Messenger  as  the  official  publication  of 
the  International  Board's  affiliated  Associations.  Its 
twelve  large  pages  were  filled  with  editorials  by  Mrs. 
Fanny  Cassiday  Duncan,  whose  office  of  secretary  was 
enlarged  to  cover  this  function  also,  quotations  from 
the  last  Conference  journal,  articles  of  general  value, 
reports  from  cities  and  from  the  various  state  chair- 
men, and  discussions  on  Association  problems.  In  suc- 
ceeding months  there  were  fine  historical  accounts  of 
flourishing  local  organizations,  and  occasionally  a  sym- 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  BOARD  205 

posium  upon  Summer  Homes  or  other  equally  at- 
tractive themes.  For  the  Conference  papers,  which 
once  had  been  found  in  the  Conference  Journal,  one 
was  now  referred  to  The  Messenger,  For  eight  years 
it  lived  a  useful  life,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  The 
Bulletin,  which  condensed  the  Association  news  and 
omitted  the  general  and  descriptive  reading  which  had 
bulked  largely  in  the  former  organ. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE   PREPARING   THE   WAT   FOB  ONE 
NATIONAL  MOVEMENT 

ANY  chronicle  of  the  first  half  century  span  of 
the  life  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations  in  this  country  might  well  be 
called  Two  Score  Years  and  Ten ;  forty  years  of  spor- 
adic local  organisms  and  separate  international  groups, 
from  1866  to  1906 ;  and  ten  years  of  one  truly  national 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  from  1906  to  1916. 

The  person  in  America  who  knew  girls  and  women 
best  was  Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge  of  New  York  City. 
These  friends  were  at  first  her  own  circle  in  the  city, 
her  school  mates  at  Farmington,  Connecticut,  her 
neighbors  and  friends  at  Greyston,  Riverdale.  What 
was  a  suburb  of  the  city  in  her  girlhood  days  is  now 
legally  within  the  limits  of  the  city,  although  the 
green  sweep  of  lawn  at  Greyston,  fringed  by  trees 
and  shrubs,  is  not  broken  by  sight  of  any  human 
habitation,  but  seems  completed  by  the  shining  Hud- 
son River,  where  the  vista  is  bounded  only  by  the 
stately  Palisades  that  form  the  western  bank.  Her 
summers  at  Greyston  and  her  steady  deep  attachment 
to  the  place,  led  to  starting  a  lending  library  which 

208 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  207 

found  shelf  room  in  her  father's  greenhouse,  and  a 
sewing  school  which  met  in  her  own  home  until  a  house 
was  huilt  for  the  two  enterprises  which  immediately 
made  their  way  and  became  part  of  a  large  neighbor- 
hood association. 

Education,  cooperation,  protection,  were  the  key- 
words of  the  work  which  seemed  waiting  for  her  in 
her  other  home  town,  the  great  city  of  New  York.  In 
January,  1880,  she  helped  form  the  Kitchen  Garden 
Association,  to  extend  that  combination  of  correct 
housekeeping  instruction  and  songs  and  games,  which 
had  first  been  thought  out  by  Miss  Emily  Huntington, 
and  put  into  operation  in  the  Wilson  Industrial  School 
in  1876.  As  corresponding  secretary  Miss  Dodge  set 
herself  to  creating  public  sentiment  for  industrial 
training  as  an  educational  factor.  After  four  years 
the  Kitchen  Garden  Association  made  way  for  the  In- 
dustrial Education  Association  with  a  greatly  ex- 
tended scope,  including  committees  on  Household  In- 
dustries, Industrial  Art,  Mechanical  Industries,  Out- 
side Organizations,  Vacation  Schools,  Kindergartens, 
Industries  for  the  Insane,  Reformatories,  Orphanages 
and  Asylums,  Houses  and  Training  for  Domestic 
Science,  and  Bureau  for  Teachers.  Cooking  schools 
were  known,  but  no  foundation  existed  for  industrial 
training,  even  Pratt  Institute  began  some  two  years 
later.  The  Association  engaged  teachers  for  classes 
both  within  and  without  the  building  leased  for  head- 
quarters, at  number  9  University  Place.  These  out- 
side classes  were  not  only  metropolitan;  they  assem- 
bled in  nearby  Yonkers,  Dobbs  Ferry,  Hoboken  and 


208       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

on  Staten  Island,  in  Ogontz  Seminary  near  Philadel- 
phia, and  in  far  off  Rochester  and  Cleveland. 

There  were  not  enough  adequately  trained  teachers 
to  meet  the  demand,  and  as  the  Board  of  Trustees  un- 
dertook normal  classes,  they  saw  that  this  feature 
must  assume  collegiate  proportions.  Thoughtful  edu- 
cators became  interested.  Upon  the  founders  was  laid 
a  heavy  financial  burden,  the  task  of  securing  build- 
ings, accumulating  endowment  and  meeting  deficits 
when  endowment  funds  and  students'  fees  together 
were  insufficient  for  the  annual  budget.  Miss  Dodge 
as  vice-president  and  treasurer  was  more  than  a  de- 
cider of  policies  and  a  disburser  of  monies  put  into 
her  hands.  She  made  call  after  call,  telling  people 
what  such  a  teachers'  college  would  mean,  why  it  was 
necessary,  inspiring  some  with  her  own  vision  and  get- 
ting help  for  the  mission  to  which  she  was  devoted, 
often  meeting  failure,  but  plodding  on  with  equal 
stoutness  of  heart  in  any  case.  People  began  to  see 
the  value  of  academic  and  graduate  instruction  in 
Household  Arts,  in  Physical  Education,  and  various 
technical  subjects.  They  saw  what  the  study  of  edu- 
cation from  the  kindergarten  up  to  university  ad- 
ministration was  accomplishing  for  the  nation,  and 
gifts  began  to  come  more  easily.  In  1911  she  dared  to 
give  up  the  treasury,  although  she  always  remained 
on  the  board  of  trustees  of  Teacher's  College. 

The  abUity  she  showed  in  the  promotion  of  in- 
dustrial education  could  not  fail  to  be  coveted  for  the 
whole  school  system  of  the  city.  When  Mayor  Grace 
appointed  women  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  209 

first  time,  one  of  the  two  was  Miss  Dodge,  and  she 
served  the  full  term  of  three  years,  January  1,  1888, 
to  1891.  This  new  commissioner  took  so  seriously  her 
duties  as  member  of  committees  on  the  care  of  school 
buildings,  on  sites  for  new  schools,  on  school  furniture, 
as  to  cause  surprise  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  not 
known  such  keen  examination  of  present  conditions 
and  such  unerring  judgment  as  to  the  future.  After 
two  years  the  Board  was  ready  to  introduce  industrial 
training  as  a  result  of  her  labors,  and  the  conduct  of 
evening  schools  was  a  still  further  scene  of  her  inter- 
est. 

Perhaps  Miss  Dodge 's  greatest  service  on  the  Board 
was  as  a  member  of  a  committee  of  eight,  appointed  to 
investigate  and  report  what  changes  ought  to  be  made 
in  the  by-laws  relating  to  examinations  and  marks, 
also  changes  desirable  in  the  methods  of  examinations, 
course  of  study,  the  methods  and  system  of  marking 
both  teachers  and  pupils,  the  cause  and  remedy  for 
the  excess  of  pupils  who  are  unable  to  obtain  admission 
to  the  colleges,  ^'also  in  respect  to  all  other  matters  in 
relation  to  the  school  system  which  they  may  deem 
proper.' '  Earnest,  persevering  investigation  began 
at  once.  The  committee  held  seventeen  meetings 
and  heard  a  great  mass  of  testimony  from  the  city 
superintendent,  his  assistants,  and  a  number  of  princi- 
pals, vice-principals  and  teachers.  Communications 
were  sent  to  the  educational  departments  of  all  large 
and  important  cities  in  the  United  States,  asking  for 
full  and  detailed  information  as  to  their  respective 
school  systems  and  the  methods  of  supervising  and 


210       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

controlling  them.  A  good  share  of  this  correspondence 
fell  upon  Miss  Dodge.  In  June  the  final  report  was 
presented  in  a  carefully  prepared  course  of  study  for 
both  primary  and  grammar  grades.  Kindergarten 
there  was  none  at  the  time.  The  committee  also  re- 
ported on  an  amendment  to  the  by-laws  relative  to  a 
maximum  salary  for  teachers  of  all  grades. 

It  is  difficult  to  characterize  Miss  Dodge's  part  in  this 
work,  except  to  say  that  she  was  the  leading  spirit.  She 
had  spent  the  previous  summer  in  England  and  on  the 
Continent  studying  the  practical  application  of  school  sys- 
tems, consulting  the  leaders  of  educational  thought  and 
visiting  schools,  colleges  and  universities.  She  brought  to 
the  work  of  preparing  a  course  of  study  for  the  city's 
public  schools  an  exalted  sense  of  what  could  and  should  bo 
done.  She  felt  that  training  young  people  in  industrial 
education  pointed  to  the  solution  of  some  of  the  outstand- 
ing social  problems,  touched  the  very  roots  of  our  civiliza- 
tion, and  affected  the  prosperity  of  our  nation  for  future 
generations.  The  course  of  study  at  that  time  adopted  by 
the  Board  of  Education  contained  some  of  the  advanced 
methods  for  which  she  had  enthusiastically  labored,  and 
more  have  been  added  since. 

All  this  educational  investigation  was  later  at  the 
service  of  the  mission  schools  when  Miss  Dodge  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Educational  Commission 
for  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference,  which  she 
attended  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1910.  Another 
service  to  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  school 
matters  is  the  organization  of  the  Girls '  Public  School 
Athletic  League  in  1905. 

If  her  heart  was  in  the  educational  propaganda,  her 
very  heart  and  soul  were  in  that  first-hand  contact 
with  girls,  which  has  come  to  be  known  as  *' Girls' 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  211 

Self -Governing  Clubs/'  but  which  she  simply  called 
**  Cooperation. "  One  evening  she  met  with  a  few 
self-supporting  girls  in  the  home  of  one  of  them,  talk- 
ing over  with  them  some  of  the  common  questions  of 
life.  The  group  grew  in  membership  and  rooms  for 
meeting  followed;  for  those  who  wanted  better  per- 
sonal equipment  for  the  years  ahead  there  was  a 
chance  to  study ;  they  had  good  times  together.  Miss 
Dodge  brought  in  her  own  friends  to  teach  what  they 
knew  and  to  share  in  what  she  was  herself  enjoying. 
Up  to  1883  when  this  Irene  Club  came  into  being,  peo- 
ple had  been  stirred  to  do  much  /or,  but  had  not 
thought  of  doing  much  with  the  rank  and  file  of  self- 
supporting  young  women.  To  her  each  girl  was  an 
individual,  even  though  many  worked  together  or 
played  together  in  companies.  *'How  can  we  co- 
operate," she  said,  ''before  we  know  how  to  honor 
and  appreciate  those  busy  women  and  girls  into  whose 
lives  we  want  to  bring  brightness  and  cheer.  As  long 
as  we  look  upon  them  as  a  class  whom  we  are  to  bene- 
fit and  uplift,  there  can  be  no  cooperation.  We  must 
learn  to  know  their  grand  self-sacrificing  lives,  must 
make  them  friends  from  whom  we  are  to  receive  more 
than  we  can  ever  give,  and  then  must  gain  their  in- 
terest and  consent  to  the  cooperative  measure  hoped 
for." 

All  members  were  on  equal  terms,  the  cash  girl  earn- 
ing two  dollars  per  week,  the  teacher  earning  ten  times 
that  sum,  and  the  so-called  girl  of  leisure,  who  had 
received  her  wages  in  advance.  Business  was  con- 
ducted through  strictly  Parliamentary  methods;  com- 


212       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

mittees  and  a  council  made  easy  the  execution  of  the 
measures  voted  by  the  club  in  the  monthly  meetings, 
when  three  hundred  members  would  sit  through  an 
evening  of  pure  business  discussion,  because  it  was 
their  own  affairs  which  they  themselves  were  handling. 

Besides  the  business  and  the  classes  and  the  social 
hours,  many  inside  organizations  developed :  the  Lend- 
a-Hand,  or  Resolve  Committees,  which  found  ways  to 
comfort  unfortunate  or  friendless  people:  the  Junior 
Branches,  which  swarmed  the  younger  fun-loving  chil- 
dren and  hived  them  in  the  rooms  on  certain  evenings 
in  the  week  with  two  or  three  queen  bees  to  keep  them 
out  of  mischief.  Then  grew  up  tlie  ' '  Three  P.  Circle, ' ' 
with  the  motto  words,  ''Purity,  Perseverance,  Pleas- 
antness, * '  from  a  talk  of  five  club  members  going  home 
from  the  club  together.  These  were  active  workers 
and  cooperating  members  striving  together  to  develop 
a  more  earnest  type  of  womanhood  among  the  girls 
they  knew.  And  when  the  older  members  married, 
and  could  not  come  out  at  night  to  the  club  meetings, 
the  question  was  asked, '  *  Why  not  have  a  Bride,  Wife, 
Mother,  Branch  and  come  to  the  rooms  in  the  after- 
noons?" The  Domestic  Circle  was  the  result,  and 
practical  talks,  lectures  and  demonstration  classes 
shared  the  time  with  the  precious  social  intercourse, 
while  a  committee  from  the  main  club,  of  unmarried 
members  out  of  work,  cared  for  the  babies  and  young 
children. 

Combinations  for  summer  vacations  led  to  the  holi- 
day houses;  combinations  for  emergencies  led  to  the 
Mutual  Benefit  Fund  to  provide  for  sickness  and  fu- 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  213 

neral  expenses.  Combinations  to  find  places  for  those 
out  of  work  or  to  suggest  fitting  for  better  positions 
led  to  the  Alliance  Employment  Bureau.  Miss  Dodge 
was  repeatedly  asked  to  tell  others  about  her  club 
work  and  answer  questions,  as  for  example : 

Question — "Do  you  have  any  trouble  with  class  distinc- 
tion of  one  trade  with  another?" 

Answer — "It  might  be  a  difficulty  elsewhere,  but  not  in 
New  York." 

Question — "How  do  you  begin  to  get  acquainted?" 
Answer — "Wait  for  an  introduction  through  some  mutual 
friend.     Our    club   work   is   not   diflFerent   from   any   other 
social  life;  we  meet  on  feelings  of  social  equality,  the  same 
as  other  friends." 

Question — "How  intimate  are  you  with  your  girls?" 
Answer — "We  are  very  intimate.     They  are  with  my  life 
and  I  am  with  theirs." 

The  club  idea  made  possible  the  whole  oncoming 
rush  of  settlements  and  institutional  churches,  the  in- 
dustrial, educational  and  junior  departments  in  both 
Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions. People  wanted  to  get  together,  wanted  to  work 
together.  They  did  not  know  how  until  Miss  Dodge 
showed  them  what  could  be  done  in  a  club  where  lead- 
ers were  actively  humble  and  members  were  honor- 
ably ambitious.  There  would  always  be  outstanding 
leaders,  for  equality  of  rights  need  not  be  confused 
with  equality  of  gifts. 

These  Irene  Club  members  wanted  to  hear  Miss 
Dodge  talk — always,  in  any  audience,  for  that  matter, 
the  only  regret  was  that  soon  she  would  have  to  stop 
— and  suggested  to  her  topics  about  which  they  were 
thinking  and  on  which  they  needed  her  advie-e.    Other 


214.      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

clubs  wanted  to  read  these  words  and  the  little  volume 
**A  Bundle  of  Letters  to  Busy  Girls"  was  published 
in  1887  and  new  editions  meet  the  steady  calls  for  it 
after  nearly  thirty  years. 

When  the  Honorable  Seth  Low,  a  former  president 
of  Columbia  University,  was  elected  mayor  of  greater 
New  York,  he  appointed  as  his  secretary  Mr.  James 
Bronson  Reynolds,  the  former  student  secretary  of 
certain  continental  universities.  To  these  two  aca- 
demic municipal  officers  came  a  rumor  in  1902  that 
some  of  the  employment  bureaus  licensed  by  the  city 
were  placing  immigrant  girls  and  other  unprotected 
young  women  in  immoral  resorts.  Mr.  Reynolds, 
thinking  that  the  Woman's  Municipal  League  might 
be  able  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  these  bureaus, 
consulted  with  Miss  Dodge  as  treasurer,  but  when 
she  learned  that  absolute  secrecy  was  essential  till 
the  inquiry  was  ended,  she  herself  supplied  the  re- 
quired funds,  rather  than  hazard  the  undertaking  by 
presentation  to  any  organized  body  for  action.  On 
the  evidence  thus  obtained,  two  managers  were  sent 
to  prison  and  about  sixty  others  were  legally  blocked 
from  this  type  of  business. 

Miss  Dodge  had  striven  to  build  up  in  her  club 
girls  that  inner  wall  of  protection  which  every  pure 
minded  girl  could  attain.  She  had  also  thought  much 
of  how  Christian  society  can  build  an  outer  wall  of 
protection  around  those  who  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
forces  of  iniquity  preying  upon  girls  ignorant  of 
moral  dangers,  and  unsuspecting  of  harm. 

She  had  full  respect  for  the  efforts  of  the  local 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  215 

Women *5  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
whose  agents  stood  on  guard  in  the  docks  and  stations 
of  a  score  of  cities  to  greet  and  guide  incoming  girls, 
but  she  felt  that  all  sporadic  actions  were  only  a  drop 
in  the  bucket;  there  must  be  a  union  of  all  possible 
allies,  and  there  must  be  other  than  station  and  fol- 
low-up work.  Protection  must  be  legal  and  legisla- 
tive, it  must  be  international. 

This  combination  was  first  effected  in  New  York 
City,  for  most  of  her  undertakings  * '  began  in  Jerusa- 
lem.'*  A  committee  composed  of  Jewish,  Roman 
Catholic  and  Protestant  women  began  investigation 
which  later  led  to  an  incorporated  society  and  a  di- 
rectorate of  both  men  and  women,  but  even  at  once 
there  was  an  increased  force  of  Travelers'  Aid  agents 
speaking  many  languages,  and  a  reliable  system  of  re- 
ports and  records  for  tracing. 

Another  part  of  this  same  conception  of  protection 
was  the  National  Vigilance  Committee,  later  merged 
into  the  American  Social  Hygiene  Association.  This 
committee,  to  whose  working  she  gave  the  most  dili- 
gent and  scrupulous  attention,  was  organized  at  her 
house  in  1905.  Later  it  was  able  to  induce  the  United 
States  government  to  ratify  the  White  Slave  Treaty 
drafted  in  Paris  in  1902  and  already  accepted  b}'-  the 
leading  nations  of  Europe.  Aid  was  also  given  in 
the  passage  of  two  national  laws  to  prevent  the  im- 
portation of  women  from  State  to  State  for  immoral 
purposes;  state  laws  to  the  same  end  were  passed  in 
thirty-one  States.  These  laws  enabled  the  public  au- 
thorities to  overcome  the  difficulties  which  had  previ- 


216       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ously  existed  in  prosecuting  offenders  who  had  es- 
caped from  the  State  when  an  offence  was  committed. 
Most  of  the  steps  in  this  war  for  the  suppression  of 
commercialized  vice  bore  other  people's  names,  as  that 
of  the  representative  who  fathered  a  bill  through  the 
house,  for  Miss  Dodge  had  an  instinct  for  remaining 
unknown  as  the  author  of  any  deed,  whether  it  be  a 
benefaction  of  time,  of  advice  or  of  money. 

All  this  work  of  education,  cooperation  and  protec- 
tion was  done  with  the  deepest  Christian  purpose. 
Miss  Dodge  was  continually  seeking  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,  and  these  many  things 
that  made  up  the  days'  work  and  the  years'  work 
were  means  to  the  coming  of  that  Kingdom.  Her  per- 
sonal conceptions  of  Christianity  were  as  high  as  her 
social  conceptions.  Her  morning  hour  of  Bible  read- 
ing and  deliberate  prayer,  her  holy  observance  of  the 
Lord's  day  for  divine  worship  and  rest  and  gladness, 
were  the  sources  of  her  gigantic  achievement.  Peo- 
ple knew  her  as  a  Christian  woman,  fond  of  girls — 
one  who  was  accustomed  to  work  decently  and  in  order 
with  other  people.  She  believed  in  *  *  freedom  guarded 
by  organization. ' '  People  wondered  that  she  was  not 
identified  with  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation either  nationally  or  locally.  She  had  been 
helpful  to  all.  She  had  read  papers  at  the  Interna- 
tional Conferences  in  Cincinnati  in  1885,  and  in  Chi- 
cago in  1891  when  the  International  Board  was 
formed.  She  had  spoken  at  the  first  Northfield  Con- 
ference. She  had  opened  her  house  to  a  parlor  con- 
ference in  1898,  at  which  Miss  Ruth  Rouse  had  pre- 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  217 

sented  the  Christian  opportunities  in  American  col- 
leges and  those  in  foreign  lands  looking  to  America, 
and  had  brought  increased  financial  support  to  The 
American  Committee.  Her  visit  to  the  Baltimore  As- 
sociation in  1887  resulted  in  a  flourishing  club  which 
was  the  nucleus  of  a  branch  in  the  industrial  part 
of  the  city.  She  spoke  before  college  girls,  presided 
at  meetings,  advised  with  leaders,  stood  by  especial 
efforts  for  exposition  travelers'  aid,  contributed  lav- 
ishly, etc.,  but  was  never  committed  to  any  board  or 
committee.     Said  one  who  knew  her  well, 

The  reason  was  not  hard  to  find.  Her  wide  vision,  clear 
judgment  and  broad  sympathy  could  not  be  satisfied  with 
a  divided  leadership.  The  work  demanded  the  largest  spirit 
of  love  and  liberty,  and  imtil  an  organization  could  be 
effected  which  could  work  unhampered  by  friction  for  all 
the  young  women  of  the  nation  in  a  definite  progressive 
advance  toward  the  highest  and  best  in  all  things,  she  was 
unwilling  to  give  her  time  and  thought  to  any  lower 
standard. 

She  had  often  said  in  confidence  to  those  nearest 
to  her  in  both  organizations  that  if  the  time  should 
ever  come  when  union  was  deeply  desired  on  both 
sides,  she  stood  ready  to  help. 

To  Miss  Dodge,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  officers 
of  both  The  American  Committee  and  International 
Board  turned  in  the  spring  of  1905  when  local  city 
affairs  became  national  complications.  In  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  young  women  in  business  and  professional 
life  wished  to  establish  a  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  with  the  equipment  and  program  for  pro- 
moting the  spiritual,  mental,  social  and  physical  wel- 


218       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

fare  of  young  women  that  were  found  in  other  cities, 
and  asked  The  American  Committee  to  help  them  to 
complete  their  plans.  The  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation, which  had  for  thirty-five  years  maintained 
a  boarding  home  for  women,  and  carried  on  other 
lines  of  work  such  as  were  previously  common  to  many 
of  its  sister  Associations  in  the  International  Board, 
desired  that  the  new  work  be  undertaken  under  a  title 
other  than  Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 
which  was  so  similar  to  its  own  that  the  public  might 
not  be  able  to  make  distinctions.  But  the  words 
Young  Women 's  Christian  Association  with  their  uni- 
versally accepted  significance,  seemed  to  the  younger 
body  the  only  title  that  would  indicate  the  nature  and 
affiliations  of  their  society  to  the  cosmopolitan  resi- 
dents and  guests  of  the  capital  city,  and  they  felt  that 
the  prefix  ** Young"  distinguished  it  from  the  other 
name.  Representatives  of  the  proposed  new  organ- 
ization had  sought  the  advice  of  The  American  Com- 
mittee when  they  were  assembled  in  Detroit  that 
April  for  their  tenth  Biennial  Convention.  At  the 
same  time  members  of  the  International  Board 's  Com- 
mittee on  Relations  were  in  Washington  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Women's  Christian  Association  Board 
and  the  State  Director  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 
A  letter  from  Washington  and  a  telegram  from  De- 
troit reached  Miss  Dodge  at  the  same  time.  Each 
asked  that  she  preside  at  a  conference  upon  the  mat- 
ters involved.  In  each  she  saw  the  desire  for  such 
mutual  understanding  and  cooperation  as  might  soon 
make  possible  a  united  Young  Women 's  Christian  As- 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  219 

sociation  in  the  United  States.  She  accepted  both  in- 
vitations and  asked  that  representatives  meet  with 
her  in  New  York  City  on  May  24. 

Miss  Dodge  received  her  guests  at  the  Hotel  Man- 
hattan and  each  of  the  company  of  fifteen  believed  as 
she  went  in  to  the  meeting  place  that  God,  who  had 
been  working  His  purpose  out  as  month  succeeded  to 
year,  had  brought  His  purpose  for  the  Young  Wom- 
en *s  Christian  Association  to  the  place  when  its  fu- 
ture would  be  enlarged  or  thwarted  by  her  individual 
thought  and  action  that  morning.  The  representa- 
tives of  the  International  Board  were  its  president, 
Mrs.  W.  S.  Buxton  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  two 
former  presidents,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Dorman  of  New  York 
City  and  Mrs.  W.  S.  Stewart  of  Philadelphia,  the 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mrs. 
C.  N.  Judson  of  Brooklyn  and  Mrs.  J.  T.  Whittlesey 
of  Montclair,  New  Jersey,  the  State  Director  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  Mrs.  Frank  T.  Thurston  of 
Washington,  and  the  former  general  secretary.  Dr. 
Anna  L.  Brown  of  Boston.  The  American  Committee 
was  represented  by  the  president,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Griffith, 
and  Mrs.  J.  J.  Tufts,  both  from  headquarters  in  Chi- 
cago, three  non-resident  members.  Miss  Helen  Miller 
Gould,  of  New  York  City,  Mrs.  Robert  E.  Speer  of 
Englewood,  New  Jersey,  and  Mrs.  Thomas  S.  Glad- 
ding of  Montclair,  New  Jersey,  also  chairman  of  the 
American  Department  of  the  World  ^s  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association,  and  two  members  of  its 
staff,  Miss  Emma  Hays  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Wilson. 

No  doubt  all  had  seen  Miss  Dodge  preside  over  large 


220       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

meetings,  had  heard  her  read  papers  and  give  ad- 
dresses, and  many  had  come  to  decisions  on  impor- 
tant puzzling  questions  in  personal  conference  with 
her,  but  no  one  was  prepared  for  the  directness  with 
which  the  truly  vital  issue  was  singled  out  and  the 
swiftness  with  which  the  meeting  was  brought  to  its 
desired  haven.  Before  the  opening  prayers  the  chair- 
man read  selected  Scripture  verses: 

"This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are 
behind,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

"He  led  them  forth  by  the  right  way." 

"The  Lord  shall  guide  tliem  continually." 

"For  this  God  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever,  and  He  will 
be  our  God  even  unto  death." 

"Who  teacheth  like  Him?" 

"Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage,  be  not  afraid,  neither 
be  thou  dismayed,  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee 
whithersoever  thou  goest." 

"The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength." 

And  after  it  she  shared  with  the  assembled  friends 
her  vision  of  the  past  twenty  years,  of  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  young  women  in  the  country  needing 
the  help  that  could  come  when  Christian  women  were 
banded  together  and  could  cover  the  country  as  a 
whole.  Each  president  gave  a  summary  of  the  posi- 
tion of  her  own  organization  as  it  faced  the  future, 
and  then  each  woman  present,  as  they  sat  in  a  great 
circle,  answered  Miss  Dodge's  question  as  to  whether 
the  time  for  union  had  come.  *'I  most  earnestly  de- 
sire this  union.''  '*It  has  been  my  deep  desire  for 
years."  **I  have  come  to-day  believing  that  in  God's 
providence  the  time  has  come."    **I  hope  this  is  the 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  221 

beginning  of  union. "  "To  my  mind  union  means  so 
much  that  I  do  not  see  how  as  Christian  women  we 
can  fail  to  unite. '*  Thus  around  the  room,  then  Miss 
Dodge  spoke.  '*!  think  we  all  agree;  we  want  co- 
operation with  union,  not  cooperation  without  union. 
Let  us  therefore  vote  now.  Those  in  favor  of  this 
sentiment  will  kindly  say  'aye.'  "  A  unanimous  vote 
was  taken. 

*'The  end  of  the  exploration  is  the  beginning  of 
the  enterprise. ' ' 

In  answering  Miss  Dodge 's  second  question :  * '  How 
can  we  unite,"  the  thought  in  every  one's  mind  was 
of  previous  propositions  for  union  which  had  failed, 
because  it  was  impossible  to  see  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  the  beginning  had  called  for  more  con- 
cessions and  violation  of  existing  policy  than  seemed 
recompensed  by  the  probable  achievements  of  such  a 
united  movement.  The  cliief  concession  was  one  as 
to  the  basis  upon  which  Associations  could  be  admit- 
ted. In  the  International  Board  where  various  forms 
of  local  organizations  made  different  provisions  of 
membership  as  regards  activity,  fees  and  church  con- 
nection, there  was  strong  sentiment  for  liberty  of  basis 
in  the  national  charter.  All  The  American  Commit- 
tee Associations  held  uniformly  to  an  open  associate 
membership,  and  a  voting  and  office  holding  active 
membership  of  communicants  in  Protestant  Evan- 
gelical churches.  There  were  at  hand  beside  these 
two  bases  those  of  the  World's  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  and  the  International  Commit- 
tee of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations.    The  lat- 


222       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ter  was  called  for  and  read — the  well-known  state- 
ment of  their  evangelical  church  position,  leaving 
open  the  definition  of  what  churches  were  to  be  con- 
sidered evangelical  in  this  connection.  As  the  ques- 
tion reverted  to  the  bases  of  the  two  women's  move- 
ments involved,  Miss  Dodge  continued: 

*'Now,  how  can  these  two  be  combined?" 

The  response  began  as  a  paradox,  it  ended  as  a 
prophecy  sure  of  fulfillment. 

**I  have  never  known  how,  because  every  one  says 
they  can't  be  combined.  The  proposition  made  in  the 
past  has  been  union  on  the  evangelical  basis ;  that  ex- 
isting bodies  may  be  a  part  of  the  whole  body  without 
changing  their  bases,  and  the  new  organizations  be 
asked  to  adopt  the  evangelical  basis."  Aiter  the  first 
discussion  an  unofficial  and  individual  vote  was  re- 
corded as  almost  unanimous  on  the  resolution  thus 
stated,  **That  we  make  the  attempt  of  uniting  all 
present  Associations  of  the  International  Board  and 
The  American  Committee  on  their  present  bases  and 
all  future  Associations  on  the  basis  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations." 

Further  suggestion  as  to  name,  headquarters  and 
convention  representation  did  not  call  for  immediate 
action.  The  only  other  conclusion  reached  by  vote 
was  the  recommendation  to  "Washington  of  a  united 
movement,  in  which  the  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion should  retain  the  present  status,  a  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association  should  be  affiliated  with 
The  American  Committee,  and  that  mutual  representa- 
tion, a  united  finance  campaign  and  a  central  execu- 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  228 

tive  committee  should  be  constituted.  That  was  the 
first  fruit. 

People  who  were  told  of  the  Manhattan  Conference 
rejoiced  that  there  was  to  be  ** union/'  but  her  guests 
who  saw  Miss  Dodge's  face  that  day  knew  it  was 
illuminated  by  something  more  than  the  thought  of  a 
union  of  two  existent  organizations.  She  saw  aris- 
ing a  new  creation  for  young  women,  of  young 
women,  and  by  young  women,  in  which  the  spirit  of 
peace  and  good-will  and  the  joy  of  the  Lord  might  be 
felt  and  through  it  made  outwardly  manifest. 

Back  of  the  fourteen  women  who  met  with  Miss 
Dodge  in  May,  were  the  Board  and  Committee  which 
had  appointed  them,  and  back  of  those  were  the  Con- 
ference and  Convention  by  which  they  had  themselves 
been  elected.  Fortunately  the  International  Confer- 
ence would  be  held  in  Baltimore  that  very  fall,  and 
The  American  Committee  had  power  to  call  a  special 
convention  competent  to  act  upon  all  the  matters  af- 
fected by  the  Manhattan  resolution.  The  sub-com- 
mittee appointed  that  day  and  its  chairman,  Miss 
Dodge,  spent  the  summer  in  constant  communication 
with  each  other  and  the  field,  concluding  their  labors 
with  recommendations  to  their  legislative  bodies,  to 
sanction  the  points  already  agreed  upon,  and  to  ap- 
point a  Joint  Committee  of  fifteen  to  complete  the 
terms  of  union.  The  Baltimore  Conference  in  No- 
vember, 1905,  and  the  convention  which  The  American 
Committee  called  in  Chicago  early  in  January  of 
1906,  adopted  these  resolutions  and  joined  in  asking 
for  Miss  Dodge  as  chairman.     She  associated  with 


224       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

her  as  private  secretary  Frances  Field,  general  sec- 
retary of  the  State  Committee  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  who  prepared  the  thirty  exhibits  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  and  the  brochures  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  Associations.  Such  thorough  gathering 
and  sifting  of  evidence  bearing  upon  Relationship  to 
the  Churches,  on  State  Work,  on  the  Metropolitan 
System  and  many  other  foundation  stones  in  the  As- 
sociation's structure,  had  never  been  known  before. 
Workers  in  other  organizations  frankly  coveted  our 
opportunity,  after  forty  years  of  experiment  to  build 
fresh  from  the  very  ground  up.  As  fast  as  necessary 
policies  were  agreed  on  by  the  committee,  they  were 
reported  to  the  field  so  that  when  the  Convention  was 
called  for  December  5  and  6,  1906,  and  Associations 
were  asked  to  make  application  for  charter  member- 
ship in  time  to  estimate  the  attendance  of  their  dele- 
gates, there  was  a  pretty  general  understanding  of 
the  nature,  the  privileges  and  the  obligations  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

At  the  Joint  Committee  offices  there  was  the  great- 
est excitement  as  day  after  day  the  charter  member- 
ship applications  kept  pouring  in  from  East  and 
West,  North  and  South,  city  and  student,  large  and 
small  Associations.  The  East  had  the  advantage  of 
transportation,  so  the  blanks  from  Newark,  New  Jer- 
sey, and  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  were  first  received. 
Some  one  said  she  felt  as  members  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1787  must  have  felt  while  waiting 
for  the  thirteen  original  states  to  ratify  the  United 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  225 

States  constitution.  The  returns  were  equally  suc- 
cessful and  the  credential  committee  of  the  Conven- 
tion was  able  to  announce  as  charter  members  147 
city  and  469  student  Associations.  This  included  all 
but  three  of  the  city  Associations  of  The  American 
Committee  and  most  of  their  student  Associations  and 
almost  all  of  the  Associations  affiliated  with  the  Inter- 
national Board  which  carried  on  work  for  improving 
the  spiritual,  mental,  social  and  physical  conditions 
of  young  women.  Ninety-six  of  the  cities  were  rep- 
resented by  338  delegates,  and  36  of  these  student 
Associations  by  54  delegates  at  the  Convention  which 
received  the  final  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  and 
inaugurated  the  new  movement. 

The  South  Church  (Reformed)  at  the  corner  of 
Madison  Avenue  and  Thirty-eighth  Street,  New  York 
City,  was  the  scene  of  the  meeting.  It  was  a  think- 
ing, praying,  working  Convention.  There  was  little 
in  the  way  of  entertainment  and  nothing  in  the  way 
of  spectacle.  It  made  no  impression  upon  the  city. 
Intercession,  deliberation  and  decision  were  the  main 
features.  There  were  greetings  from  the  two  presi- 
dents who  laid  down  unselfishly  the  offices  held  only 
until  the  disbanding  of  the  former  national  organiza- 
tion, from  the  general  secretaries  of  the  International 
Committee  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
Mr.  Richard  C.  Morse,  and  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America,  Reverend  E.  B.  Sanford.  There  were  ad- 
dresses which  threw  a  search  light  over  the  areas  to 
be  cultivated  by  the  new  national  organization.    Rev- 


226       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

erend  Charles  Stelzle  spoke  on  Christian  Cooperation 
in  the  Industrial  World,  Mrs.  F.  T.  Thurston  on  Chris- 
tion  Cooperation  Among  Women  in  Social  and  Busi- 
ness Life,  Mr.  Kobert  E.  Speer  on  The  Results  of 
Higher  Education  Conserved  for  Christian  Leader- 
ship, Mrs.  Thomas  S.  Gladding  on  The  Unique  Re- 
sponsibility of  the  American  Associations  to  the 
World's  Work,  Reverend  Cleland  B.  McAfee  on 
The  Source  of  Power  in  Great  Movements,  Mr.  John 
R.  Mott  on  Our  Summons  to  a  Great  Advance.  Miss 
Dodge  read  the  Joint  Committee's  last  report  and 
gave  the  business  to  the  Convention  in  the  form  of 
resolutions  relating  to  the  organization  of  the  body, 
and  instructions  as  to  how  the  executive  board  should 
proceed  to  accomplish  the  expressed  wishes  of  the 
national  body.  These  with  slight  emendations  were 
adopted.  The  constitution  was  presented  as  giving 
notice  that,  after  incorporation  of  the  National 
Board,  the  next  Convention  would  be  competent  to 
adopt  it,  and  until  then  charter  membership  rights 
would  be  valid.  The  purpose  was  stated  to  be  'Ho 
unite  in  one  body  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociations of  the  United  States,  to  establish,  develop, 
and  unify  such  Associations ;  to  advance  the  physical, 
social,  intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  interests  of 
young  women;  to  participate  in  the  work  of  the 
World's  Young  Women's  Christian  Association." 

In  the  agreement  between  The  International  Board 
and  The  American  Committee,  to  which  constituent 
Associations  had  assented  in  applying  for  charter 
membership,  it  had  been  stipulated  that  the  new  Na- 


South  Chlhch,   -New    Yukk  City, 
Where  Present  National  Movement  was  Formed 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  227 

tional  Board,  when  organized,  should  consist  of  five 
resident  and  five  non-resident  members  from  the  In- 
ternational Board  or  its  constituency;  five  resident 
and  five  non-resident  members  from  The  American 
Committee  or  its  constituency ;  five  members  from  the 
American  Department  of  the  World's  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association,  and  five  other  persons. 
The  nominating  committee,  of  which  Mrs.  Margaret 
E.  Sangster  was  chairman,  had  looked  for  women  fa- 
miliar with  work  already  done,  but  ready  to  see  the 
new  duties  taught  by  new  occasions,  women  who  knew 
girls  one  by  one,  as  well  as  by  clubs  and  cabinets  and 
committees,  women  most  of  all  who  felt  from  the  bot- 
tom of  their  hearts  that  in  the  twentieth  century,  as 
in  the  first,  Jesus  Christ  must  be  the  center  of  life 
and  that  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
have  come  to  the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this. 
The  convention  elected  their  nominees.  From  the 
constituency  of  the  International  Board  at  headquar- 
ters, Mrs.  R.  A.  Dorman,  New  York  City,  Mrs.  R.  C. 
Jenkinson,  Newark,  New  Jersey,  Mrs.  Charles  N. 
Judson,  Brooklyn,  Mrs.  William  W.  Rossiter  and  Miss 
Alice  Smith,  New  York  City.  From  the  field,  Mrs. 
Dudley  P.  Allen,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Mrs.  F.  L.  Durkee, 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  Mrs.  Henry  Green,  Phila- 
delphia, Mrs.  J.  B.  Richardson,  Oakland,  California, 
Mrs.  B.  T.  Vincent,  Denver,  Colorado.  From  the  con- 
stituency of  The  American  Committee,  Mrs.  S.  J. 
Broadwell,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Cushman,  Miss  Helen  Miller 
Gould,  Miss  Janet  McCook,  New  York  City,  Mrs. 
Robert  E.  Speer,  Englewood,  New  Jersey,  Mrs.  Henry 


228       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

M.  Boies,  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  ]\Irs.  L.  Wilbur 
Messer,  Chicago,  Mrs.  Irwin  Rew,  Evanston,  Il- 
linois, Mrs.  William  F.  Slocum,  Colorado  Springs, 
Colorado,  Mrs.  A.  McD.  Wilson,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
From  the  American  Department  of  the  World's  As- 
sociation, Miss  Maude  Daeniker,  New  York  City,  Mrs. 
Thomas  S.  Gladding,  Essex  Fells,  New  Jersey,  Mrs. 
David  McConaughy  and  Mrs.  John  R.  ]\Iott,  Mont- 
clair,  New  Jersey,  Miss  A.  M.  Reynolds,  North  Haven, 
Connecticut.  The  new  members  were  Miss  Dodge, 
Mrs.  Stephen  Baker,  Miss  IVIary  Billings  and  Mrs. 
William  B.  Boulton  of  New  York  City  and  Mrs.  E.  M. 
Campbell  of  Newark. 

The  Association  experience  of  these  board  members 
was  as  varied  as  the  entire  local  and  supervisory 
range.  Four  were  presidents  in  cities.  As  many 
more  had  been  pronounced  Christian  leaders  since  un- 
dergraduate days.  Others  were  on  university  advis- 
ory boards.  Several  had  rare  gifts  for  friendly  talks 
to  young  women,  which  had  been  widely  expressed. 
Several  had  gathered  their  friends  together  for  Bible 
classes,  or  had  led  the  Bible  study  of  winter  evenings, 
or  days  in  summer  conferences.  Some  had  taught  in 
mission  schools  or  had  been  employed  officers.  Others 
had  administered  large  business  interests;  some  had 
supported  financially  work  which  they  were  not  free 
to  do  themselves.  Many  were  officers  of  state  com- 
mittees. Several  had  visited  or  resided  in  mission 
lands  and  were  familiar  with  foreign  work.  Several 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  World's  Conferences. 
The  record  of  many  covered  a  half  dozen  of  these 


THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  229 

points.  Mrs.  Dorman  (Mary  Aitken)  was  a  charter 
member  of  the  Association  of  New  York  City  and  in 
1872  it  was  she  who  secured  for  the  needlework  de- 
partment a  free  equipment  of  Wheeler  and  Wilson 
sewing  machines  for  the  Young  Ladies'  Christian  As- 
sociation house  at  Irving  Place  and  Eighteenth 
Street,  and  had  since  then  been  president,  trustee  and 
held  other  responsible  positions  for  the  International 
Board.  Mrs.  Messer  had  since  1888  belonged  to  The 
American  Committee  for  which  she  had  been  the  first 
editor  of  The  Quarterly,  had  occupied  all  the  four 
executive  offices,  had  represented  them  at  two  World's 
Conferences,  and  was  also  on  the  advisory  board  at 
the  University  of  Chicago. 

There  was  a  verse  often  repeated  in  the  between 
hours  of  the  Convention,  though  not  sung  as  a  hymn, 
nor  made  a  formal  motto.  It  was  Arthur's  words  to 
Bedivere:  **The  old  order  changeth,  giving  place  to 
new,  and  God  fulfills  himself  in  many  ways. ' ' 


PART  III.    1906  TO  1916 

THE  YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIA- 

TIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 

AMERICA 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    PRESENT    NATIONAL    MOVEMENT 

WEDNESDAY  and  Thursday  of  that  no- 
table December  week  when  the  one  new 
movement  became  an  actuality,  were  grey 
days  drenched  with  rain;  Friday  was  bitterly  cold; 
but  the  vagaries  of  weather  did  not  dishearten  the 
delegates  whose  votes  had  instituted  the  new  order  of 
things,  nor  the  twenty-six  members  of  the  National 
Board  who  made  each  other's  acquaintance  at  the 
first  board  meeting  on  December  7,  nor  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-nine  secretaries,  superintendents  and 
department  directors  who  remained  for  a  three  days' 
conference  after  the  close  of  the  Convention. 

For  the  business  of  these  board  meetings  the  in- 
structions passed  by  the  Convention  were  indeed  a 
Magna  Charta  of  the  new  government;  and  so  com- 
prehensive and  far  reaching  was  this  document  that 
its  contents  could  be  appropriated  only  little  by  lit- 
tle. After  election  of  officers — Miss  Dodge  was  made 
president,  and  appointment  of  staff — the  former  sec- 
retaries of  The  American  Committee,  International 
Board  and  Joint  Committee  were  called,  there  were 
set  up  three  immediate  lines  of  communication, 
through  an  office  department,  publication  department, 

233 


234       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

and  territorial  committees.  The  Joint  Committee  had 
tentatively  engaged  the  whole  eighth  floor  of  The 
Montclair,  number  541  Lexington  Avenue,  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Forty-ninth  Street,  where  its  own  headquarters 
had  been,  and  thus  it  was  in  their  own  official  home 
that  the  new  National  Board  met  on  December  7  and 
adopted  the  policies  prefaced  by  the  wo^ds, 

As  a  corporate  body  we  are  witnesses  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  truest  service  we  can  render  is  to  show  Him  in  every 
detail  of  work,  (and  continuing  with  these  paragraphs  on 
the  office  administration). 

That  work  should  be  conducted  in  a  business-like,  concise 
way.  All  details  of  oflBce  work  and  outside  policy  thor- 
oughly systematized  and  yet  not  so  systematized  that  the 
loving  touch  should  be  omitted. 

That  relationship  with  the  staff  from  general  secretary 
to  office  girl  should  be  that  of  cooperative  spirit,  true 
justice,  and  a  sense  that  all  are  working  for  and  with  the 
Board  to  develop  a  great  work.  The  office  work  should  be 
a  model  for  the  Associations. 

That  the  spirit  of  relationship  should  be  generous  and 
fair;  that  all  dealings  should  breathe  this  tone.  In  other 
words,  that  from  the  start  it  should  be  felt  that  this  is  a 
Christian  movement,  and  that  our  basis  is  being  worked 
out  in  detail  even  to  the  courteous  and  prompt  answering 
of  letters  and  courteous  replies  at  the  telephone.  An  over- 
worked, under  paid  staflf  cannot  show  the  Christian  spirit. 

During  Joint  Committee  days  there  had  been  much 
correspondence  about  an  official  organ.  The  Evangel 
had  made  its  valedictory  address  in  December,  and 
The  Bulletin,  which  had  superseded  The  International 
Messenger,  had  also  said  farewell  to  its  old  constitu- 
ency. Both  lists  of  subscribers  were  turned  over  to 
the  National  Board  and  on  the  first  of  February,  1907, 
there  appeared  the  salutatory  number  of  The  Associa- 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       235 

Hon  Monthly,  olBficial  organ  of  the  National  Board  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  It  described  itself  as  a 
forty-eight  page  magazine,  issued  monthly  during  the 
year  at  a  subscription  price  of  one  dollar.  This  first 
copy  contained  signed  articles  by  Mrs.  Robert  E. 
Speer,  Rev.  J.  Douglas  Adam,  Clara  S.  Reed,  Eliza- 
beth Wilson,  Mary  F.  Sanford,  Arthur  J.  Elliott, 
Robert  E.  Speer,  Bertha  Conde,  Eleanor  Brownell, 
Helen  Temple  Cooke,  and  communications  from  writ- 
ers in  the  United  States  and  in  the  fields  occupied  by 
foreign  secretaries.  All  was  under  the  editorial  di- 
rection of  Frances  E.  Field.  The  keynote  was  struck 
in  Miss  Dodge's  first  open  communication  as  presi- 
dent : 

As  I  look  at  our  work  there  seem  to  be  three  or 
four  points  that  we  should  remember:  First,  Cooperation. 
We  need  to  think  of  working  with  our  Heavenly  Father  and 
his  Son  Christ,  and  with  his  help  and  power  to  coopera- 
tively develop  the  new  work.  We  cannot  any  of  us  be  in 
a  hurry.  We  must  do  the  best  we  can  and  then  be  willing 
to  wait,  to  quietly  study  all  the  problems  and  to  see  what 
can  be  done,  to  lay  foundations  that  are  going  to  tell  many 
years  hence.  Then  we  must  all  have  patience.  Coopera- 
tive patience  means  your  patience  and  our  patience  combined, 
and  with  this  thought  I  am  sure  you  will  have  patience 
with  us  and  not  expect  from  us  too  much  at  once.  How 
far  are  we  ourselves  fitted  and  worthy  for  the  responsibili- 
ties which  God  has  put  upon  us?  It  is  just  here  that  we 
must  all  stop  and  question.  We  can  have  in  the  new  move- 
ment the  greatest  of  buildings,  the  greatest  number  of  edu- 
cational classes,  but  if  we  within  ourselves  are  not  true 
spiritually,  and  have  not  true  fellowship  with  the  friends 
who  come  into  our  buildings,  then  these  great  buildings  are 
not  worthy  for  the  girls  to  come  into.     This  would  mean  no 


236       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

spirit  of  patronage,  but  the  loving  working  with,  and  not 
for,  the  members  and  girls  who  are  in  touch  with  Associa- 
tion work. 

Another  topic  upon  which  every  bit  of  available 
wisdom  had  been  expended  was  that  of  division  of 
labor  in  field  supervision.  The  experience  of  twenty- 
two  years  of  State  Committees  and  fifteen  years  of 
State  Directors  within,  as  well  as  advice  from  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  leaders  without,  had  been 
sought  and  analyzed  and  weighed.  And  then  like  an 
inspiration  there  came  to  both  Miss  Dodge  and  Miss 
Field  in  their  own  separate  homes  and  on  the  same 
day,  an  idea  which  might  mean  unity  without  cen- 
tralization, which  would  give  to  every  woman  in  every 
section  of  the  country  a  chance  to  develop  those  par- 
ticular interests  which  they  believed  most  needed  em- 
phasis there,  yet  all  in  a  uniform  way,  because  all 
would  be  extensions  of  a  balanced  center.  In  several 
sections  of  the  country.  Associations  in  the  same  State 
belonging  to  the  State  Associations  of  The  American 
Committee  and  the  State  Boards  of  the  International 
Board  were  charter  members  of  the  new  national 
movement.  This  was  true  in  Missouri,  New  England, 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  etc.,  and  to  invita- 
tions from  these  States  the  National  Board  representa- 
tives first  responded,  that  the  break  in  supervisory 
relations  might  be  as  slight  as  possible. 

The  recommendations  approved  by  the  convention 
under  which  they  were  working  were : 

That  the  National  Board  shall  concentrate  upon  develop- 
ing strong  state,  territorial  or  field  committees  composed  of 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       237 

women  residing  in  such  divisions  of  territory,  and  that  it 
shall  be  the  function  of  the  National  Board  to  develop  such 
agencies  rather  than  to  do  direct  local  advisory  work. 

That  the  relationship  of  such  territorial  conunittees  to 
the  National  Board  be  made  a  subject  for  study  during  the 
next  two  years,  and  that  the  Board  shall  have  liberty  to 
establish  tentative  relationships,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  next  convention. 

It  was  hoped  that  these  sectional  committees  which 
would  be  auxiliary  to  the  National  Board  would  be 
representative  of  the  local  Associations  in  each  dis- 
trict. Each  committee  would  be  self  perpetuating, 
submitting  its  nominations  to  the  National  Board  for 
approval.  The  appointment  of  secretaries  employed 
by  each  auxiliary  committee  would  also  be  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  National  Board,  which  would  rec- 
ognize them  as  the  field  workers  of  the  national  staff. 
The  annual  budget  would  also  be  submitted  to  the 
National  Board  for  suggestions  and  approval.  Al- 
though each  territorial  committee  would  be  responsible 
for  raising  the  money  in  its  own  district,  yet  if  the 
financial  policies  seemed  too  meager  for  the  necessities 
of  the  field,  the  National  Board  might  be  able  to  help 
by  assigning  secretaries  to  work  with  the  committee 
in  securing  a  larger  budget  than  the  one  which  was 
first  proposed. 

Before  the  United  States  membership  met  in  Con- 
vention again  at  St.  Paul  in  1909,  the  Associations  in 
twenty-one  States  had  readjusted  their  immediate 
supervisory  relationships  into  seven  territorial  organ- 
izations. The  six  New  England  States  had  estab- 
lished headquarters  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts ;  New 


238       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

York  and  New  Jersey  in  New  York  City;  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas  in  Charlotte,  North  Carolina ;  Dela- 
ware, Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  in  Philadelphia; 
Ohio  and  West  Virginia  in  Cincinnati;  Missouri  and 
Arkansas  in  St.  Louis ;  California  and  Nevada  in  Los 
Angeles.  The  difficulties  centered  chiefly  around  se- 
curing committee  members  unafraid  of  near  and 
heavy  financial  responsibility,  and  finding  enough 
strong,  well  trained  and  experienced  secretaries.  Miss 
Reynolds,  the  chairman  of  the  Field  Work  Commit- 
tee, in  presenting  this  report  to  the  convention,  spoke 
also  of  the  viewpoint  of  the  whole  as  imperative  in 
the  symmetrical  development  of  the  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

This  symmetrical  development  is  not  a  question  of  the 
numbers  enrolled  in  Bible  classes  or  sewing  classes;  but  of  a 
controlling  spirit  and  purpose  which  shall  reach  out  through 
all  the  organization  and  machinery  until  it  works  the  miracle 
of  a  fourfold  development  in  the  most  insignificant  indi- 
vidual girl  whose  antecedents  or  environment  have  dwarfed 
her  life  on  one  side  or  another.  Whether  or  not  the  result 
is  brought  to  pass  through  the  local  Association  depends 
upon  its  leadership,  and  the  territorial  committee  should 
be  in  a  position  to  assist  in  securing  wise  and  efficient  local 
leaders.  Back  of  the  territorial  committees  stands  the 
National  Board  as  an  inspiring  and  unifying  force,  work- 
ing out  methods  to  be  used  by  others  in  effecting  the  object 
of  the  movement,  training  both  voluntary  and  professional 
leaders.  The  responsibility  for  the  solidarity  of  the  move- 
ment rests  upon  the  National  Board  as  a  body. 

By  1915  all  the  States  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica had  been  grouped  under  eleven  committees  which 
were  now  called  Field  Committees  of  the  National 
Board  instead  of  territorial  committees.    The  excep- 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       239 

tions  were  the  District  of  Columbia  and  Hawaii, 
which  are  in  direct  relation  to  the  National  Board, 
also  the  colored  Associations,  which  are  supervised  by- 
specialists  in  the  Department  of  Method,  although  a 
Conference  held  in  Louisville,  October,  1915,  presaged 
a  more  uniform  policy. 

Theory  and  policy  have  always  frightened  some 
people;  other  people  have  been  deaf  and  blind  to  all 
abstract  expressions.  One  might  say  only  the  incar- 
nated ideas  rouse  such  people  and  set  them  to  work. 
That  is  the  reason  that  the  state  secretary  and  the  na- 
tional secretary,  living  young  women  who  have  visited 
cities  and  colleges  or  whom  the  members  have  met  at 
conferences,  have  stood  to  people  for  *' state  work" 
and  ''national  work"  in  scores  of  Associations.  If 
the  situation  were  severe  the  presence  of  the  national 
secretary  was  implored ;  plain  visitation  might  be  done 
by  the  less  experienced  state  secretary,  but  in  an 
emergency  a  call  was  sent  for  the  national  secretary. 
Even  in  Biblical  language  the  telegram  has  read, 
"Come  at  once,  the  Philistines  be  upon  us."  But 
the  core  of  the  new  system  is  that  headquarters  sec- 
retaries and  field  secretaries  are  all  employed  officers 
of  the  National  Board,  and  differ  not  in  degree  but 
in  kind. 

No  one  department  answers  its  own  questions  alone. 
The  Finance  Department  was  to  solve  the  problem  of 
field  financial  support  and  its  answer  was  joint  finance 
campaigns.  The  Secretarial  Department  was  to  re- 
spond to  the  plea  for  suitable  employed  officers.  Its 
answer  was  the  National  Training  System.    Yet  the 


240       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Field  Work  Department  did  not  divest  itself  of  its 
own  most  important  duty,  finding  women  for  auxil- 
iary committees,  gaining  their  cooperation,  and  then 
leaving  to  them  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Seed 
might  be  sent  and  implements  provided  and  agricul- 
tural experts  might  come  by  and  inspect  and  advise, 
but  the  farmers  themselves  were  to  be  responsible  for 
the  crops. 

All  the  earlier  history  had  shown  that  state  officers 
were  the  pillars  which  upheld  the  broad  Association 
structure.  One  thinks  of  such  chairmen  as  Mrs.  H. 
M.  Boies  of  Scranton,  who  created  the  ideal  of  what 
a  state  chairman  could  be.  Her  distinguished  hus- 
band was  one  of  the  first  to  believe  in  permanent  finan- 
cial support  for  a  state  Association.  The  State  of 
Pennsylvania  had  but  two  chairmen  in  its  eighteen 
years  of  history,  for  when  Mrs.  L.  M.  Gates  succeeded 
Mrs.  Boies  in  1895  she  continued  until  the  disbanding 
of  The  American  Committee  in  1906.  Mrs.  N.  B. 
Bacon  was  another  who  stayed  by  the  stuff  as  the  sec- 
retaries came  and  went  and  the  tides  of  the  State  As- 
sociation of  Ohio  ebbed  or  flowed.  Mrs.  F.  F.  McCrea 
of  Indiana,  Mrs.  Levi  T.  Schofield  of  Ohio,  Mrs.  C.  C. 
Rainwater  of  Missouri,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Rawson  of  Iowa, 
Miss  Mary  B.  Stewart  of  Michigan,  Dr.  Ida  C.  Barnes 
of  Kansas,  were  all  chairmen  worthy  of  the  name.  A 
gentleman  was  waiting  in  an  Association  reception 
room  one  day  until  a  state  committee  meeting  should 
release  a  college  friend  who  had  come  in  town  to  at- 
tend it.  As  the  ladies  had  assembled  one  by  one  and 
had  gone  out,  several  of  them  before  adjournment,  he 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       241 

had  noted  their  faces,  and  finally  when  he  had  left  the 
building  with  his  companion,  he  said,  **Why  do  all 
your  women  look  so  much  alike?"  It  was  a  laugh- 
able query,  for  that  committee,  like  most  of  the  others, 
was  made  up  of  women  of  different  ages  and  tastes 
and  environments.  Some  were  faculty  members,  some 
wives  of  business  men,  some  were  young  alumnae, 
some  returned  missionaries,  some  were  city  ministers' 
wives.  What  was  there  in  common?  There  was  this 
— ' '  For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake." 
There  was  not  much  glory,  not  much  sitting  on  plat- 
forms, nor  being  introduced  to  admiring  audiences, 
but  there  was  much  chance  for  weighing  the  results 
of  neglecting  opportunities  or  of  making  the  most  of 
them,  for  assuming  financial  burdens  without  any 
human  assurance  of  a  way  to  meet  them,  for  interces- 
sion when  the  only  possible  power  able  to  energize 
indifferent  Associations  was  the  Spirit  of  God,  to 
whom  prayer  was  made.  For  such  women,  barring 
the  difference  in  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  cen- 
turies, the  Field  Work  Department  was  looking. 

In  the  opinion  of  certain  past  grand  masters  of  soci- 
ety organization,  the  first  Convention  passed  two  con- 
tradictory resolutions  under  the  head  of  finance,  one, 
' '  That  the  National  Board  shall  adopt  a  budget  of  esti- 
mated receipts  and  expenditures,  and  shall  as  a  cor- 
poration be  responsible  for  the  payment  of  bills  con- 
tracted by  it,"  the  other,  *'That  the  National  Board 
shall  impose  no  taxes  or  assessments  upon  the  Associa- 
tions, but  that  the  Associations  shall  be  invited  to 


242       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

make  a  voluntary  subscription  to  the  work  of  the  na- 
tional organization/'  But  these  resolutions  were  the 
outcome  of  much  study  of  the  processes  by  which 
money  had  been  raised  for  the  three  great  bodies  pro- 
moting Christian  Associations  in  the  United  States — 
The  American  Committee,  the  International  Board, 
and  the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations. 

In  the  first  years  of  The  American  Committee  its 
income  largely  consisted  of  gifts  usually  proportion- 
ate to  membership,  from  student  Associations  paid 
through  the  state  treasurers,  then  as  the  state  budgets 
had  to  take  into  account  salary  and  expenses  of  the 
indispensable  state  secretary  for  a  whole  or  a  part  of 
a  year,  the  proportion  of  these  necessary  budgets  that 
was  forwarded  from  state  to  national  Committee  grew 
less.  Then,  too,  as  the  city  Associations  enlarged 
cost  of  maintenance  to  keep  pace  with  enlarged  work 
and  the  student  Associations  applied  most  of  their 
revenue  to  sending  delegates  to  the  summer  confer- 
ences, they  sent  in  less  of  their  local  funds  to  the 
state,  which  had  already  decreased  the  proportion  of 
state  funds  sent  on  to  the  national  treasury.  From 
the  first  the  gifts  to  the  World's  Association  were  in- 
dividual; an  English  penny  a  member  was  the  uni- 
versal standard,  but  for  America,  richer  and  more 
accustomed  to  wholesale  missionary  enterprises,  five 
cents  a  member  was  substituted.  This  World 's  Nickel 
was,  as  a  rule,  collected  during  the  World's  Week  of 
Prayer,  which  began  on  the  second  Sunday  of  No- 
vember. 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       243 

To  augment  this  fluctuating  inside  income,  mem- 
bers of  the  Committee  supplemented  their  own  sub- 
scriptions by  asking  gifts  from  their  friends  and  peo- 
ple known  to  be  interested  in  Christian  work,  or  spe- 
cifically in  the  welfare  of  young  women.  The  treas- 
urers' reports  show  the  status  at  intervals. 

In  1887  the  Association  subscriptions  were  65  per  cent, 
of  $689  receipts. 

In  1892  the  Association  subscriptions  were  16  per  cent,  of 
$7,000  receipts. 

In  1897  the  Association  subscriptions  were  4  per  cent,  of 
$13,000  receipts. 

In  1902  the  Association  subscriptions  were  6  per  cent,  of 
$27,000  receipts. 

Not  yet  had  the  Committee  dreamed  of  an  endow- 
ment such  as  colleges  possess  for  each  chair  of  learn- 
ing, but  the  missionary  board  plan  seemed  feasible — 
asking  individuals  for  the  annual  support  of  a  secre- 
taryship, not  a  secretary,  for  the  work  goes  on  though 
the  worker  falls.  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst  in  1900  offered 
the  first  secretaryship.  In  time  a  few  others  were  se- 
cured and  several  thousand  dollars  in  legacies  were  re- 
ceived. 

Even  though  the  sum  total  of  the  national  treasury 
was  small,  the  plan  of  voluntary  contribution  to  state 
and  national  support  was  the  best  possible  education 
for  the  members  at  large  in  the  Christian  fine  art  of 
giving  to  something  which  they  could  not  see,  and 
which  might  not  directly  benefit  them  although  it 
might  bring  them  great  advantages. 

On  the  program  of  every  state  convention  there 
was  invariably  a  fiLuance  meeting.    It  might  not  be 


244       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

detected  on  the  printed  sheet  by  the  delegate  who 
represented  her  home  Association  for  the  first  time, 
but  the  eye  of  a  seasoned  convention  goer  could 
pierce  through  the  announcement  of  an  address  on 
** Lengthen  thy  cords  and  strengthen  thy  stakes**  and 
spy  the  finance  meeting  lurking  underneath.  It  usu- 
ally found  its  place  Saturday  morning,  after  the 
state  chairman's  report,  which  closed  with  recom- 
mendations of  which  the  budget  was  a  part,  and  after 
the  local  reports.  The  leader  usually  recited  the  ap- 
peals before  the  state  Association  for  extensive  and 
intensive  cultivation  and  asked  the  members  of  the 
convention  to  pray  for  guidance  as  to  what  share  of 
the  budget  needed  to  accomplish  this,  each  could  give 
or  be  responsible  for  securing.  As  the  list  of  Associa- 
tions was  read,  one  after  another  stated  the  amount 
that  had  been  previously  voted  by  the  Association. 
Rarely  were  the  personal  gifts  announced.  Only  the 
collectors  as  they  totaled  the  pledge  cards  knew  of 
the  sacrifice  back  of  a  penciled  subscription  of  ten  or 
twenty  dollars,  the  giver  of  which  might  have  been 
supposed  to  do  generously  if  she  gave  one  dollar.  In 
the  early  days  of  financing  the  Association  move- 
ment, one  constantly  heard,  "How  much  she  would 
give  if  she  were  only  able ! '  *  Later  on  more  frequent 
comment  was,  * '  How  much  she  might  give  if  she  were 
only  interested ! ' '  Some  of  the  finance  meetings  were 
a  revelation  of  spiritual  courage  and  devotion. 
Sixty-six  delegates  of  the  third  Kansas  convention  in 
1888  pledged  $1,160 ;  in  1889  seventy  delegates  at  the 
second  Pennsylvania  convention  subscribed  $637,  and 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       245 

the  next  year  sixty-five  delegates  subscribed  $1,346. 
This  means  an  average  of  froin  nine  to  twenty-one 
dollars  each,  and  few  of  the  pledges  were  ever  repudi- 
ated. Most  were  paid  promptly;  sometimes  a  college 
senior  would  find  that  she  could  not  meet  the  obliga- 
tion she  had  assumed  until  the  second  year  instead  of 
the  first  year  of  teaching,  a  word  almost  equivalent 
to  earning  at  that  time. 

The  opportunity  for  individual  members  to  con- 
tribute directly  for  national  work  was  given  at  every 
summer  conference,  so  that  although  the  percentage 
of  Association  gifts  was  small,  the  percentage  of  the 
budget  contributed  by  members  of  local  and  state  As- 
sociations and  the  members  of  the  national  Commit- 
tee itself  was  more  presentable. 

So  certain  was  the  Joint  Committee  that  the  Na- 
tional Board  would  need  a  much  larger  budget  for 
1907  than  the  combination  of  the  largest  previous 
budgets  of  the  International  Board  and  The  Amer- 
ican Committee,  that  part  of  the  work  of  its  chair- 
man had  been  to  confer  privately  with  individuals 
before  the  Convention.  By  this  means  when  the  Na- 
tional Board  organized  on  December  7  and  adopted 
for  the  year  1907  a  budget  of  $100,000,  the  amount 
was  practically  underwritten  and  the  whole  volunteer 
and  employed  force  could  devote  themselves  to  what 
is  termed  *'the  real  work  of  the  Association,''  as 
though  any  one  could  label  one  part  real  and  another 
part  spurious,  or  minimize  the  Christlike  qualities 
of  self-forgetfulness  and  fearlessness  of  those  who  se- 
cure money  by  private  appeal. 


246       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Aside  from  the  personal  subscriptions  and  those  of 
interested  friends,  there  were  also  revenue-bringing 
although  not  self-supporting  departments,  and  the 
National  Board  could  reasonably  count  on  part  of 
the  necessary  income  from  the  Publication,  Confer- 
ence and  Secretarial  Departments. 

Among  the  first  chairmen  of  standing  committees 
to  be  appointed  was  Miss  Janet  McCook  to  the  posi- 
tion of  chairman  of  the  Department  of  Conventions 
and  Conferences,  as  the  programs  and  contracts  for 
the  season  of  1907  must  be  made.  Nothing  was  at- 
tempted the  first  year  beyond  eight  conferences  of 
the  same  character  as  in  1906,  the  Eastern  Student 
at  Silver  Bay,  the  Central  Student  at  Lake  Geneva, 
the  Western  Student  at  Cascade,  Colorado,  the  East- 
ern and  Central  City  at  Silver  Bay  and  Geneva,  and 
the  general  conferences  for  both  student  and  city 
members  at  Capitola,  California,  at  Asheville,  North 
Carolina,  and  at  Seaside,  Oregon. 

The  very  year  after  the  International  Committee 
had  established  its  second  summer  conference  at 
Northfield,  Massachusetts,  plans  were  made  to  open 
one  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  But  the  serious  railroad 
strikes  of  1894  interfered.  It  was  not  until  1896  that 
the  Mills  College  grounds  near  Oakland  were  used, 
and  so  successfully  that  the  conference  returned  in 
1897.  Nothing  was  done  in  1898,  and  this  doleful 
record  might  have  been  extended  in  1899  but  for  the 
tour  which  Miss  Reynolds  as  World's  Secretary  was 
making  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  pluck  of  the 
western  girls.     Twenty-two  from  the  University  of 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       247 

California  and  four  from  the  University  of  Nevada 
went  up  to  Inverness,  where  their  Christian  fellow- 
ship included  cooperative  housekeeping  as  well. 

In  was  in  1900  that  Harriet  Taylor  laid  the  whole 
situation  before  Mrs.  Phoebe  Hearst,  who  was  in- 
terested in  girls  as  girls  and  had  very  close  relations 
with  those  studying  at  the  University  of  California. 
She  saw  how  such  a  conference  as  Miss  Taylor  pro- 
posed would  benefit  young  women,  and  grow  in 
strength  and  numbers  until  it  became  permanent, 
and  proved  her  confidence  in  the  plan  by  assuming 
the  entire  expense  of  the  1900  Conference,  even  pro- 
viding traveling  expenses  for  one  student  from  each 
college  in  California,  Oregon  and  Washington.  The 
hotel  at  Capitola-by-the-Sea  was  secured  and  the  Con- 
ference launched.  By  1911  that  place  was  hopelessly 
outgrown  and  again  Mrs.  Hearst  came  to  the  rescue. 
She  invited  the  whole  1912  conference  to  her  own 
estate  at  Hacienda  and  opened  negotiations  with  the 
Pacific  Improvement  Company  by  which  the  Na- 
tional Board  was  given  an  ample  site  on  the  Monterey 
Peninsula  a  little  beyond  Pacific  Grove.  Within 
forty -two  working  days  roads,  piping,  electric  lines, 
administration  building,  ten  tent  houses  and  a  kitchen 
were  constructed  in  time  for  the  1913  Conference  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of  Cal- 
ifornia, Arizona  and  Nevada.  The  grounds  were 
dedicated  and  christened  Asilomar  (Retreat  by  the 
Sea).  In  1915  a  beautiful  auditorium  and  a  Visit- 
ors' Lodge  were  added  to  the  permanent  equipment. 
The  grounds  were  designed  by  a  woman,  and  are  in- 


248       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

finitely  homelike  with  their  side  walls  of  sand  dunes, 
their  curtains  of  pine  trees,  their  canopy  of  California 
heaven  and  their  outlook  of  ocean,  gray  in  the  fog, 
blue  in  the  morning  sun  and  purple  and  gold  at  sun- 
set time. 

By  1915  the  eight  national  conferences  had  become 
fifteen  and  there  had  been  added  eight  camp  councils, 
under  Field  Committees,  for  industrial  and  high 
school  girls,  with  less  complex  programs  and  more 
time  for  vacation  resting. 

As  difficult  a  problem  as  any  that  had  presented 
itself  to  the  Joint  Committee  was  that  of  professional 
training  for  employed  officers  on  local  and  national 
and  foreign  staffs.  There  were  people  who  believed 
that  the  vocation  of  secretary,  like  that  of  nurse,  de- 
pended upon  the  nature  of  the  technical  education 
for  candidates  as  well  as  upon  the  nature  of  the  candi- 
date. Others  honored  that  view  more  by  the  breach 
than  by  the  observance.  Miss  Dodge  had  never  ques- 
tioned in  any  of  the  prefatory  interviews  and  cor- 
respondence that  the  national  organization  must  pro- 
vide for  securing  and  training  secretaries  and  giving 
advice  about  filling  positions.  The  chief  question  was 
whether  the  training  school — or  schools,  for  that  was 
also  debatable — should  be  directly  under  the  National 
Board,  or  under  an  educational  board  appointed  by 
the  Convention,  or  under  independent  corporations, 
recognized  and  endorsed  by  the  Convention.  Fortu- 
nately the  leases  of  the  houses  in  Chicago  in  which 
The  American  Committee  carried  on  its  Training  In- 
stitute would  not  expire  until  1908.     This  gave  the 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       249 

National  Board  time  to  investigate  what  sort  of  train- 
ing the  new  movement  would  require. 

What  sort  of  women  would  be  required  needed  no 
investigation.  That  was  patent  to  all.  Mr.  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  might  have  been  delineating  the  ideal 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  secretary  by 
the  words  he  used  in  another  connection:  **the  strong- 
est are  needed,  those  of  marked  personality,  who  to 
tenderness  add  force  and  grasp,  who  show  capacity 
for  friendship,  who  to  a  fine  character  unite  an  in- 
tense moral  and  spiritual  enthusiasm." 

Both  study  and  experience  must  be  compounded 
with  these  personal  qualifications.  The  California 
State  Committee  had  worked  out  with  Los  Angeles, 
its  headquarters  Association,  a  practical  course  under 
direction,  by  which  a  suitable  candidate  might  help 
in  every  phase  of  the  city  Association,  and  be  given 
to  understand  principles  as  she  went  along.  This 
was  the  key  to  the  practical  side  before  the  profes- 
sional study.  It  also  solved  the  question  of  one  or 
more  training  schools,  for  each  state  or  territorial 
Committee  could  conduct  this  elementary  work  at  a 
place  not  remote  from  any  of  the  candidates'  homes, 
but  the  National  Board  itself  could  provide  the  gradu- 
ate school  at  its  own  headquarters,  open  to  secretaries 
from  the  preparation  centers  and  to  other  women  who 
had  been  successful  in  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  or  similar  movements. 

Upon  this  plan,  then,  the  Secretarial  Department 
Committee  framed  the  training  system.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1908  a  catalogue  was  issued,  containing  the 


250       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

course  of  study  and  requirements  for  admission;  and 
a  large  residence,  Number  Three  Gramercy  Park,  near 
Fourth  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street,  New  York 
City,  was  fitted  up  with  the  equipment  from  the  In- 
stitute in  Chicago,  which  of  course  was  discontinued 
at  the  same  time.  Names  of  faculty  and  teachers 
could  not  be  printed,  as  the  list  of  instructors  was 
built  up  slowly  even  to  the  moment  when  class  or 
lecture  was  due.  The  construction  of  the  course  of 
study  was  a  veritable  labor,  as  it  endeavored  to  com- 
bine Bible  and  kindred  subjects  on  which  Professor 
Edward  I.  Bosworth  of  Oberlin  and  Professor  Ira  M. 
Price  of  Chicago  and  other  theological  professors  ad- 
vised, curriculum  staples  as  tested  by  the  five  years 
of  the  Chicago  Institute,  findings  of  board  members 
and  other  authorities  which  came  in  answer  to  a  ques- 
tionnaire sent  out,  and  certain  fundamentals  as  to 
the  personal  equations  involved  which  were  insisted 
upon  by  members  of  the  committee — all  in  a  year 
course. 

But  on  September  23,  1908,  the  National  Training 
School  opened  with  Caroline  B.  Dow  as  dean,  and 
Charlotte  H.  Adams  as  resident  Bible  teacher,  and 
eleven  students  taking  full  work.  When  Miss  Dodge 
gave  out  the  certificates  at  the  first  commencement 
three  went  to  students  from  outside  of  the  United 
States:  Agnes  Kingsmill  of  Eastbourne,  England, 
Katherine  Reid  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  Charlotte 
Sutcliffe  of  Canada. 

That  same  autumn  five  territorial  committees  and 
three  state  committees  conducted  training  centers  on 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       251 

the  California  plan,  and  a  few  of  these  repeated  the 
course  in  the  winter,  with  part  of  their  lectures  and 
their  Association  examinations  coming  from  national 
headquarters.  By  1915  ten  of  the  eleven  field  com- 
mittees had  maintained  training  centers. 

What  of  the  girls  in  the  meantime?  While  the 
National  Board  was  pursuing  investigation  and  re- 
organization, what  was  becoming  of  the  girls  and 
young  women  on  whose  behalf  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  was  supposed  to  exist?  These 
were  inquiries  steadily  and  gallantly  made  and  heard 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  Board  at  times 
had  to  remind  some  of  these  spokesmen  of  a  general 
sentiment,  that  they  had  sat  in  the  South  Church  in 
December  of  1906  and  glibly  voted  that  the  National 
Board  should  concentrate  upon  developing  strong 
supervisory  committees  throughout  the  field  rather 
than  itself  doing  direct  local  work.  Miss  Dodge's 
phrase,  ** cooperative  patience,"  was  also  used.  Even 
as  the  founder  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  here  upon 
earth  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill,  so  this  human 
agency  attempting  its  little  share  of  bringing  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  had  to  work  slowly  lest  haste  should 
mean  destruction  of  the  former  things  evolved  by 
natural  growth  before  any  well-reasoned  better  new 
ways  were  at  hand.  The  girls  who  might  look  to  the 
National  Board  were  in  two  places.  They  were  in 
every  nook  and  cranny,  highway  and  byway  of  the 
United  States,  and  they  were  in  those  foreign  coun- 
tries not  yet  able  to  administer  their  own  Association 


252       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

work.  From  the  outset  the  Joint  Committee  accepted 
these  two  parishes  and  the  Convention  voted  that 
there  should  be  two  coordinate  departments,  one  for 
Home  and  one  for  Foreign  work,  equal  in  rank 
though  size  and  internal  development  must  depend 
upon  what  each  undertook  to  do.  Later  the  Home 
Department  was  termed  the  Department  of  Method, 
as  more  adequately  expressing  the  nature  of  its  duties. 
It  was  said  at  the  first  annual  meeting  that, 

The  study  of  the  field  must  be  intensive  as  well  as  ex- 
tensive, to  know  about  the  needs  of  girls,  the  things  they 
do  not  have,  the  things  they  do  not  want,  the  things  that 
they  are  doing,  their  hard  lot  or  their  empty  life  because 
of  their  easy  lot,  the  conditions  peculiar  to  certain  sections 
and  certain  classes, — these  can  be  brought  by  scientific 
study  in  a  form  organized  for  use. 

There  remains  that  more  difficult  process  which  cannot 
be  accomplished  so  easily  or  quickly,  but  to  which  all  those 
who  work  with  young  women,  whether  volunteer  workers 
or  secretaries,  are  making  a  steady  contribution,  the  study 
of  the  individual  young  woman — not  so  much  what  she  is 
doing  as  what  she  is  thinking,  what  is  helping  her,  what 
is  hurting  her,  what  are  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  her 
largest  life.  There  is  a  certain  understanding  of  a  young 
woman  that  comes  only  through  the  opportunity  to  relate 
her  to  every  other  woman.  It  is  given  to  us  to  correlate 
preparation  for  service  with  opportunities  for  service;  to 
increase  the  content  of  the  sense  of  fellowship;  to  make 
the  claim  that  we  are  all  members,  one  of  another,  some- 
thing real  and  vital  by  actual  working;  to  bind  all  the 
activities  of  our  Association  life  together  by  such  inter- 
relations of  foreign  and  home,  student,  city  and  industrial 
Associations  as  shall  increasingly  overcome  any  tendency 
to  division  in  our  Association  life  which  might  result  in 
injuring  the  dynamic  of  our  movement  as  a  whole. 

Interruptions  to  the  work  going  on  with  young 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       253 

women  in  city  and  college,  in  mill,  village  and  fac- 
tory, had  not  resulted  from  the  readjustment  of  su- 
pervisory bodies.  When  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Associations  of  the  United  States  of  America  met 
in  St.  Paul,  in  April,  1909,  and  completed  their  or- 
ganization by  adopting  a  constitution  and  approving 
policies  presented  by  the  National  Board,  there  was 
reported  a  total  membership  of  190,795  in  the  791 
local  Associations.  And  this  membership  had  been 
well  occupied  in  1908:  38,290  had  been  in  Bible 
classes,  2,049  in  mission  study  classes;  the  students 
had  held  religious  meetings  regularly  during  the  col- 
lege year,  and  the  other  Associations  kept  up  350 
meetings  weeldy;  they  had  enjoyed  3,912  social  occa- 
sions, had  studied  more  than  40  educational  subjects, 
had  had  access  to  114,336  books  and  2,128  periodicals 
which  they  might  have  read  if  they  had  wished  to  do 
so;  6,548  had  learned  to  cook,  14,309  had  learned  to 
sew,  21,487  had  found  exercise  or  amusement  or  both 
in  93  gymnasiums,  several  thousand  had  helped  eat 
the  5,054,940  meals  served  in  112  lunchrooms,  4,010 
girls  at  a  time  or  54,271  for  the  full  year  had  gone 
to  bed  at  night  under  an  Association  roof ;  23,882  had 
received  the  address  of  a  safe  shelter  elsewhere,  17,302 
came  back  to  report  that  they  had  secured  a  position 
through  the  Employment  Bureau;  69,131  journeying' 
by  boat  or  train  had  had  their  questions  answered 
and  their  troubles  lightened  by  the  Traveler's  Aid; 
3,275  employed  young  women  had  managed  their  own 
150  clubs,  and  3,006  younger  girls  had  begun  to  learn 
to  do  the  same  in  their  49  clubs;  and  there  were  12 


254       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

secretaries  in  Calcutta,  Bombay,  Madras,  Lahore, 
Colombo,  Shanghai,  Tokyo  and  Buenos  Aires,  speed- 
ing the  day  when  these  figures  would  be  duplicated 
on  other  continents. 

The  city  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  had  organized  an 
Association  in  1907,  which  was  the  first  fruits  of  the 
National  Board  in  one  respect,  since  St.  Paul  was 
the  largest  city  of  its  size  in  the  country  without  a 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  at  that  time. 
Their  invitation  for  the  Convention  of  1909  was  there- 
fore very  readily  accepted.  It  was  a  peculiarly  im- 
portant Convention.  People  had  had  time  to  think 
as  well  as  to  work  since  New  York,  December,  1906, 
and  the  National  Board  wanted  the  benefit  of  discus- 
sion with  the  field  fully  as  much  as  its  sanction  for 
the  proposed  order  of  march  for  each  department. 
One  felt  that  it  was  truly  a  national  gathering. 
Many  of  the  Eastern  guests  had  never  gone  so  far 
west  as  Chicago,  which  they  found  was  only  a  port 
of  call  to  the  Twin  Cities  of  the  Northwest.  Some 
of  the  visitors  from  the  far  South  and  from  Califor- 
nia verified  the  change  of  latitude  by  encountering 
a  mild  snowstorm. 

One  result  of  this  thinking  was  the  statement  of 
the  purpose  of  the  national  organization.  Plainly 
enough  had  the  New  York  Convention  declared  its  aim 
of  uniting  and  developing  Associations  in  this  coun- 
try and  helping  in  the  World's  work.  It  had  even 
inserted  what  might  be  called  a  *' blanket  clause, '* 
**to  advance  the  physical,  social,  intellectual,  moral 
and    spiritual    interests    of   young   women,"    which 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       255 

might  cover  expositions  or  other  nation-wide  business. 
But  that  was  only  the  outer  shell  of  its  purpose,  some 
felt;  what  should  be  the  kernel  within?  So  the  old 
statement  was  distinguished  as  *'the  immediate  pur- 
pose," and  it  was  capped  by  these  words, 

The  ultimate  purpose  of  all  its  efforts  shall  be  to  seek 
to  bring  young  women  to  such  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  Saviour  and  Lord,  as  shall  mean  for  the  individual  young 
woman  fullness  of  life  and  development  of  character,  and 
shall  make  the  organization  as  a  whole  an  effective  agency 
in  the  bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  young 
women. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  charter  membership  was 
granted  up  to  the  time  of  this  Convention  and  that 
admission  after  this  time  was  upon  the  terms  of 
active  membership — that  is,  the  voting  and  office 
holding  membership  being  limited  to  women  who  are 
members  of  Protestant  Evangelical  churches.  The 
Joint  Committee  stood  as  a  unit  for  an  evangelical 
basis  which  recognized  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord 
Christ,  and  salvation  through  Him,  together  with  th^ 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures;  also  that  this  basis 
should  be  in  the  form  of  membership  in  churches; 
that  is,  entrusting  the  voting  power  to  church  mem- 
bers only,  rather  than  requiring  a  personal  test  from 
individual  Association  members.  By  such  means  the 
Association  is  placed  as  an  auxiliary  of  the  church 
and  the  charge  of  forming  a  new  creed  or  denomina- 
tion is  avoided. 

How  to  distinguish  these  evangelical  churches  was 
not,  however,  so  clear,  since  some  felt  that  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  definition  used  by  The 


256       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

American  Committee  was  not  the  most  satisfactory 
that  could  be  devised,  and  while  the  Joint  Committee 
retained  this  definition  according  to  the  decision  of 
the  first  Manhattan  Conference,  still  the  chairman 
was  authorized  to  investigate  this  matter  of  some  fur- 
ther possible  form. 

It  was  known  that  the  first  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  the  United  States,  that  of  Boston  in 
1851,  had  been  established  upon  an  evangelical 
church  membership  basis,  as  were  most  of  the  sim- 
ilar organizations  arising  after  that,  but  there  was 
some  variation,  and  at  the  Detroit  Convention  of 
1858  it  was  resolved 

That  as  these  organizations  bear  the  name  of  Christian 
and  profess  to  be  engaged  directly  in  the  Saviour's  service, 
so  it  is  clearly  their  duty  to  maintain  the  control  and  man- 
agement of  all  their  offices  in  the  hands  of  those  who  profess 
to  love  and  publicly  avow  their  faith  in  Jesus,  the  Redeemer, 
as  divine,  and  who  testify  their  faith  by  becoming  and  re- 
maining members  of  churches  held  to  be  evangelical,  and 
that  such  persons  and  none  others  should  be  allowed  to  vote 
and  hold  office. 

But  a  query  arose  as  to  what  churches  were  to  be 
regarded  as  evangelical.  Hence  the  Portland  Con- 
vention of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  in 
1869,  appointed  as  a  committee  to  frame  a  definition 
Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  General  0.  0.  Howard  and 
others,  and  they  drew  up  in  Scripture  phraseology  a 
statement  aimed  rather  to  signify  ecclesiastical  bodies 
which  might  or  might  not  accept  the  different  clauses, 
than  to  enumerate  all  the  essential  doctrines  of  the 
evangelical  or  trinitarian  faith.     This  is  the  wording 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       257 

as  adopted,  except  that  the  very  last  clause  was  added 
by  a  later  convention: 

And  we  hold  those  churches  to  be  evangelical  which, 
maintaining  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  be  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice,  do  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  (the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords,  in  whom  dwelleth  the  fullness  of  the  God- 
head bodily,  and  who  was  made  sin  for  us  though  know- 
ing no  sin,  bearing  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree)  as 
the  only  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved  from  everlasting  punishment,  and  unto  life 
eternal. 

After  that  date  Associations  were  entitled  to  enter 
the  North  American  brotherhood  if  holding  to  this 
constitutional  provision. 

The  Joint  Committee  learned  that  certain  people 
found  difficulty  in  distinguishing  between  this  defi- 
nition of  an  evangelical  church,  and  the  evangelical 
basis  of  church  membership.  That  difficulty  would, 
no  doubt,  be  still  greater  should  the  new  movement 
attempt  even  thirty-seven  years  later  to  frame  an  al- 
ternative for  the  Portland  definition.  But  providen- 
tially, at  this  very  time,  the  evangelical  churches  of 
America  had  come  together  in  the  Inter-Church  Con- 
ference on  Federation,  and  a  great  convention  had 
been  held  in  New  York  City  in  November,  1905.  Five 
hundred  official  lay  and  clerical  delegates  from  thirty 
constituent  bodies  united  in  forming  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  **for 
the  prosecution  of  work  that  could  better  be  done  in 
union  than  in  separation.''  Their  basic  resolution 
was, 


258       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Whereas,  in  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  appears  to 
have  come  when  it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  manifest  the 
essential  oneness,  in  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  of  the  Christian  churches  of  America,  and  to  pro- 
mote between  them  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  service  and  co- 
operation in  all  Christian  work,  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  that  this  conference  authorizes  the  Business 
Committee  to  prepare  a  Plan  of  Federation  which  shall 
recognize  the  catholic  and  essential  unity  of  the  churches 
represented  in  the  conference  and  provide  for  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  denominations  in  general  lines  of  moral  and 
religious  work. 

This  Plan  of  Federation  listed  the  denominations 
entitled  to  representation,  and  although  an  effort  was 
made  looking  to  the  admission  of  non-evangelical 
churches,  only  one  vote  was  cast  in  favor  of  that  posi- 
tion. Bishop  Hendrix,  the  first  president,  said  of  this 
new  confession  of  Christ  as  Lord  and  God,  "May 
a  positive  faith  of  the  Christians  in  America  who  be- 
lieve something  have  a  wholesome  effect  on  those 
troubled  minds  who  as  yet  can  only  see  men  as  trees 
walking. ' ' 

One  of  the  main  objects  seemed  peculiarly  appro- 
priate in  view  of  the  suggestion  that  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  make  use  of  this  re- 
cent numeration  of  evangelical  churches,  namely, 
their  effort  ''to  secure  a  larger  combined  influence 
for  the  churches  of  Christ  in  all  matters  affecting  the 
moral  and  social  condition  of  the  people,  so  as  to  pro- 
mote the  application  of  the  law  of  Christ  in  every 
relation  of  human  life.'' 

These  two  methods  of  defining  evangelical  churches 
were  brought  forward  in  the  proposed  constitution 


PRESENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT       259 

in  1906.  When  the  constitution  was  adopted  in  1909 
the  second  was  accepted  as  equally  loyal  to  the  deity 
of  Christ  our  Head,  and  more  truly  representative 
of  the  churches  which  in  turn  represent  Him,  and 
the  article  on  membership  states  that 

By  Protestant  Evangelical  Churches  are  meant  those 
churches  which  because  of  their  essential  oneness  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  are  entitled  to 
representation  in  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America,  under  the  action  of  the  Inter-Church 
Conference  held  in  New  York  City,  November,  1905.  The 
list  of  churches  which  have  availed  themselves  of  this  priv- 
ilege up  to  date  will  be  found  on  record  at  the  office  of  the 
National  Board. 

Ee  saith  unto  them, 

*'But  mho  say  ye  that  I  am?" 

And  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said, 

"Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  8on  of  the  living  God" 

"Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church." 

"But  let  each  maai  take  heed  how  he  huildeth  thereon, 
For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is 
laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE    YOUNG    WOMEN    OP    THE    CHRISTIAN    ASSOCIATIONS 

CHILDREN'S  singing  games,  where  each 
player  in  the  ring  crosses  her  own  arms,  and 
with  her  right  hand  locks  her  neighbor's 
hand  on  the  left,  while  with  her  own  left  hand  she 
grasps  her  playmate  on  her  right,  are  always  sym- 
bolical of  a  true  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. The  players  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  fac- 
ing every  other  member  of  the  circle,  their  voices  ring 
out  in  unison  and  set  time  for  their  actions.  All  are 
absorbed  in  the  doing  of  one  thing  together,  and  at 
any  moment  the  hands  can  unclasp  to  make  place  for 
a  new  comer  into  the  game. 

The  noblest  illustration  of  the  American  Associa- 
tions as  one  part  in  the  great  world  circle  was  seen 
perhaps  at  the  World's  Conference  of  1910,  which  met 
in  Berlin.  Thirty  foreign  countries  had  sent  three 
hundred  and  forty-nine  delegates,  and  from  Germany 
alone  there  were  eight  hundred  and  forty -five.  Na- 
tional consciousness  had  been  lost  the  first  day  the 
Conference  assembled  in  the  Lehrervereins  Haus,  as 
one  saw  the  number  of  men  present  and  realized  how 
many  continental  pastors  were  heads  of  parochial 
branches,  as  one  saw  the  divers  costumes  of  the  differ- 

260 


THE  YOUNG  WOMEN  261 

ent  orders  of  deaconesses  and  remembered  that  the 
deaconess  takes  up  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation as  one  phase  of  parish  duties,  as  one  saw 
the  mourning  garb  of  the  ladies  from  all  sections  of 
the  British  empire  and  recalled  the  death  of  Edward 
VII  but  ten  days  before.  With  national  conscious- 
ness out  of  the  way  one  had  brain  space  for  girl  con- 
sciousness, that  came  in  an  abundant  measure  through 
the  various  sessions.  But  on  Sunday  it  came  in  a 
revelation  overwhelming  as  an  avalanche.  It  must 
have  been  a  revelation  to  the  entertaining  city  as  well, 
judged  by  the  account,  a  column  and  a  half  long, 
found  in  one  of  the  daily  papers  next  morning. 

Zirkus  Busch  was  filled  up  to  the  roof  with  7,000  people, 
almost  exclusively  young  women.  Berlin  had  never  seen 
such  a  picture  before. 

On  their  way  there  the  troops  of  girls  in  their  holiday 
clothes  made  a  striking  appearance. 

They  gathered  in  great  crowds  in  front  of  the  huge  stone 
building,  each  group  in  charge  of  a  deaconess.  As  the  doors 
were  opened,  whole  hordes  would  vanish  inside,  then  the 
police  would  bar  entrance  until  these  had  found  their  seats, 
before  admitting  another  mass  of  humanity. 

One  asked  where  did  all  this  throng  come  from,  as  they 
did  not  look  like  well  known  people.  You  were  told  that  it 
was  the  World's  Conference  of  the  Evangelical  Jimgfrauen- 
verein. 

The  nearby  cathedral  was  opened  and  immediately  filled. 
Here  an  overflow  service  was  held. 

It  was  about  half  an  hour  after  the  police  closed  the 
doors  of  Zirkus  Busch  upon  this  gigantic  gathering  of  girls 
that  the  program  began,  but  the  time  was  occupied  in  sing- 
ing some  of  the  beautiful  German  hymns. 

Youth  and  animation  were  there  in  full  measure.  The 
aspect  was  brightened  by  the  brilliant  characteristic  garb 
of  a  group  of  girls  from  the  Spree  River  district.     One  of 


262       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

her  majesty's  ladies  in  waiting  and  a  number  of  society- 
women  occupied  the  royal  box. 

It  was  like  a  swift  illumination  to  see  that  mammoth 
chorus  of  a  thousand  Berlin  members  rise  "like  one  man" 
for  the  singing;  their  voices  were  clear  and  true,  it  was  a 
pity  one  dared  not  applaud  them  vigorously.  The  men's 
cornet  band  of  the  Berlin  Foreign  Missionary  Training 
School  accompanied  the  congregational  singing.  All  stood 
to  sing. 

From  far  and  near  with  one  accord 
We  rise  to  praise  our  common  Lord. 

After  a  part  song,  a  Japanese  lady,  Miss  Michi  Kawai, 
appeared  on  the  platform.  It  was  the  first  time,  at  least 
in  Germany,  that  a  Christian  Japanese  woman  had  been 
seen  on  such  an  occasion.  She  was  clad  in  her  long  blue 
national  costume,  with  wide  sleeves  and  a  sash  tied  at  the 
back,  and  wore  white  gloves.  She  was  obliged  to  use  eye- 
glasses. After  making  several  profound  bows,  letting  her 
arms  hang  straight  down  as  she  bent  low,  she  came  for- 
ward and  in  a  clear  voice  began  a  most  thrilling  testimony 
to  Christianity.  Her  address  was  in  English,  translated  by 
Pastor  LeSeur. 

Brief  abstracts  of  the  two  addresses  by  Germans 
and  the  greeting  by  Miss  Dodge  followed  this  re- 
porter's account  of  Miss  Kawai's  speech.  But  the 
indelible  impression  was  made  by  the  people,  by  the 
girls,  for  the  older  women  had  stayed  away  to  let  the 
girls  in. 

The  World's  Conference  report  rather  took  excep- 
tion to  the  careless  classifying  of  the  audience,  and 
remarks : 

It  may  be  an  audience  of  those  of  whom  little  is  gener- 
ally known.  It  was  an  audience,  however,  which  indeed 
demonstrated  the  power  of  the  Association  among  the  work- 
ing classes,  and  those  who  are  some  of  the  most  indispensable 
members  of  society  the  world  over.     Also  more  than  one 


MiCHi  Kawai, 
Secretary   of   the   National   Committee   of   Japan 


THE  YOUNG  WOMEN  263 

foreign  delegate  present  that  afternoon  took  fresh  courage 
to  return  home  and  emulate  the  wonderful  success  of  the 
German  Association  leaders  in  reaching  large  numbers  of 
working  women  and  girls.  For  working  women  and  girls 
are  everywhere.  Everywhere  they  have  much  the  same 
needs  and  the  same  possibilities. 

Miss  Dodge  had  shared  this  feeling,  as  she  sat  high 
up  in  the  speakers'  balcony,  and  looked  down  at  that 
garden  of  girls'  faces  and  hats,  then  had  gazed  up  at 
the  row  after  row  of  galleries,  filled  with  girls,  only 
rarely  the  black  coat  of  a  pastor  or  the  hood  of  a 
deaconess  with  the  girls  from  her  church  or  the  bonnet 
of  an  elderly  woman.  ' '  We  must  do  this  in  America, ' ' 
she  said,  and  the  program  committee  for  the  1911 
Biennial  Convention  caught  at  this  idea. 

Tomlinson  Hall  is  the  popular  scene  of  all  the  polit- 
ical and  similar  mass  meetings  held  in  Indianapolis, 
Indiana.  Here  the  spectacular  scene  of  the  Third 
Biennial  Convention  took  place,  a  gymnasium  exhibi- 
tion planned  by  Dr.  Anna  L.  Brown  of  the  National 
Board  staff,  and  executed  by  Mabelle  Ford,  physi- 
cal director,  of  the  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Association. 
Whether  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  gymnasts 
of  the  fourteen  competing  teams,  or  the  thousands  of 
young  women  spectators  were  more  enthusiastic  over 
the  drills  and  competitive  sports  it  is  hard  to  say. 
The  audience  sang  and  cheered  and  sang  again.  '  *  Yes, 
I  am  satisfied,"  replied  Miss  Dodge  again  and  again 
to  the  friends  who  had  known  of  her  Berlin  expe- 
rience. But  that  was  only  half  of  the  demonstra- 
tion. The  Indianapolis  press  may  describe  the  next 
part. 


264      FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

At  least  five  thousand  women  endeavored  to  enter  Murat 
Theater  Sunday  afternoon.  About  three  thousand  of  them 
succeeded  in  getting  within  the  doors.  Another  thousand 
filled  the  banquet  hall  imder  the  theater,  and  a  third  large 
audience  attended  another  overflow  meeting  at  Roberts 
Park  church.  Several  hundred  women  who  could  not  get 
in  the  theater  returned  home. 

But  a  many-sided  movement  like  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  of  a  republic  where 
more  girls  are  developing  life  freely  than  under  any 
other  government  ever  known,  could  not  rest  with  the 
emphasis  upon  only  the  physical  and  spiritual  sides. 
For  the  next  Convention,  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  in 
1913,  there  was  conceived  the  idea  of  a  processional  in 
which  side  by  side  should  march  the  rank  and  file  of 
Association  members,  the  grave  and  the  gay,  the  old 
and  the  young,  the  learned,  the  unlearned  and  the 
learning,  from  the  city,  the  country,  from  the  school 
and  the  university,  the  busy  poor  and  the  busy  rich, 
the  girls  of  America  and  those  from  beyond  seas. 
This  expanded  into  a  pageant,  ''The  Ministering  of 
the  Gift,*'  which  by  song  and  speech  and  action,  por- 
trayed the  study  and  work  and  play  of  all  the  Associa- 
tions. Six  thousand  people  were  on  the  benches,  five 
hundred  members  of  student  and  city  Associations  on 
the  floor,  dressed  to  represent  every  element  of  the 
diversified  membership,  and  singing,  as  they  walked 
round  and  round  the  great  arena  and  finally  disap- 
peared, what  has  come  to  be  known  as  * '  The  Hymn  of 
the  Lights"  and  has  been  adopted  into  every  Associa- 
tion family.  The  demonstration  typified  girls  by  the 
thousand,  no  two  alike,  each  with  something  to  bring 


THE  YOUNG  WOMEN  265 

info  and  something  to  take  from  the  Young  Women 's 
Christian  Association. 

The  Association  is  not  the  building,  but  the  mem- 
bership. For  ages  people  have  been  making  clear  dis- 
tinctions between  these  two  applications  of  the  words, 
The  Church,  and  saying  *'The  Church  is  not  the  edi- 
fice, even  a  consecrated  edifice.  It  is  the  congrega- 
tion that  has  consecrated  that  edifice  to  the  worship  of 
God."  The  Richmond  Convention  marked  the  appli- 
cation of  that  same  truth  to  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association. 

But  again  the  true  membership  does  not  limit  the 
ministering  of  the  gifts  to  its  membership,  and  three 
commissions  reported  during  those  sessions  on  their 
programs,  which  might  be  carried  out  by  every  As- 
sociation in  its  own  community  or  by  individuals  in 
their  own  lives  and  in  the  lives  of  their  friends.  The 
first  was  on  Social  Morality  from  the  Christian  stand- 
point, seeking  and  holding  the  place  of  the  Associa- 
tion in  the  present  day  crusade  against  the  social  evil. 
The  second  was  on  Thrift  and  Efficiency,  setting  be- 
fore young  women  the  worth  of  simple  principles  of 
living,  desiring  and  achieving  a  balanced  life.  The 
third  was  on  Character  Standards,  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  young  women  in  a  concerted  and  sustained  way 
to  the  danger  of  letting  down  ideals  of  conduct,  ap- 
pealing to  a  firmer,  surer  moral  estimate,  and  offering 
power  to  realize  it. 

Never  again  could  this  contrast  of  human  life  and 
interest  against  material  equipment  be  so  striking  as 
in  this  year  1913,  when  the  whole  national  member- 


266       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ship  was  being  congratulated  upon  possessing  its  new 
national  Headquarters.  The  grounds  and  building 
were  given  by  National  Board  members  and  a  few  in- 
terested friends,  the  furnishings  and  equipment  by  245 
local  Associations.  In  September  the  offices  moved 
from  125  East  27th  Street,  where  for  four  years  they 
had  occupied  quarters  in  the  building  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, and  the  Training  School  from  3  Gramercy 
Park,  to  this  splendid  eleven  story  structure  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Lexington  Avenue  and  Fifty- 
Second  Street,  New  York  City.  It  was  dedicated  on 
December  5,  1912,  *  *  To  the  glory  of  God  and  the  serv- 
ice of  young  women. '^  As  it  was  the  first  national 
woman's  building  erected  in  America  for  sole  occu- 
pancy of  any  such  movement,  it  serves  as  a  natural 
and  convenient  meeting  place  for  women's  church 
councils  and  kindred  organizations,  and  encourages  a 
natural  and  constant  cooperation  with  other  move- 
ments in  which  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  women  are  also  united. 

Another  notable  structure  also  bore  the  name  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association.  It  was  the  building 
on  the  grounds  of  the  Panama  Pacific  International 
Exposition  at  San  Francisco,  California,  open  from 
February  20  to  December  4,  1915,  as  a  headquarters 
for  the  women  employed  in  the  Exposition  and  for 
visitors.  The  National  Board  assumed  the  undertak- 
ing and  sent  out  a  representative,  Ella  Schooley,  who 
was  executive  of  the  cooperating  committee  and  staff 
which  carried  on  the  enormous  work.    The  building 


135  East  52d  STKKi<-T,  600  Lexington  Avenup, 

Training   School  Administration   Building 

OF  the 

Katioxal   Board  of  the   Young  Women's   Christian 
Associations  of  the  United  States  of  America 


THE  YOUNG  WOMEN  267 

contained  a  free  information  desk,  reading  and  writ- 
ing pavilions,  lavatories  for  men  and  women,  a 
women  ^s  rest  room,  a  small  auditorium  containing  a 
motion  picture  installation  and  a  cafeteria  where 
wholesome  food  was  sold  at  a  moderate  price.  Social 
occasions  and  employment  bureau  and  classes  in  sales- 
manship and  stenography  were  maintained.  At  the 
Club  House  on  the  Amusement  Zone  in  another  part 
of  the  grounds  employees  found  comfortable  couches 
and  baths,  opportunity  for  reading  and  music,  inex- 
pensive food,  and  sympathetic  friends  to  help  in  con- 
stant emergencies.  At  the  request  of  the  Exposition 
Management  a  Day  Nursery  was  attached  to  the  main 
building.  The  daily  attendance  at  these  three  places 
was  numbered  by  thousands.  On  Sundays  a  vesper 
service  was  held  on  the  portico  of  the  main  building 
addressed  by  clergymen  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States. 

The  National  Board  also  cooperated  with  the  Trav- 
elers' Aid  Society,  with  the  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred, which  conducted  an  evangelistic  campaign  in 
the  city  of  San  Francisco,  with  the  local  Associations 
in  supplying  suitable  housing  to  women  guests,  and 
with  most  of  the  religious  and  betterment  conventions 
held  in  connection  with  the  Exposition. 

Not  alone  to  the  young  women  of  the  Associations 
was  this  service  offered,  but  to  all  old  and  young  men, 
women  and  children  in  need  of  its  particular  ministra- 
tions which  were  offered  in  the  name  of  Him  who  had 
compassion  on  the  multitudes. 

No  other  Exposition  had  seen  such  a  challenge  so 


268        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

adequately  accepted,  nor  had  any  one  undertaking  of 
the  National  Board  so  opened  the  door  to  further  co- 
operation among  young  women  and  the  Christian 
Associations. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  STUDENTS 

FACING  its  future,  the  Student  Committee  of 
the  National  Board  recognized  in  1909  that 
the  legitimate  field  of  its  efforts  was  the 
17,000  women  students  in  state  universities,  37,000  in 
private  high  schools,  47,000  in  denominational  or 
church  schools,  68,000  in  women's  colleges,  17,000  in 
seminaries  and  colleges  of  the  second  grade,  20,000  in 
nurses'  training  schools,  10,850  in  independent  music 
schools,  14,000  colored  young  women  who  were  attend- 
ing secondary  and  high  schools,  and  1,100  young 
women  who  were  enrolled  in  the  Indian  schools. 
About  450,000  more  were  registered  in  public  high 
schools  and  normal  schools.  The  Association  itself 
had  been  acknowledged  as  the  academic  religious  in- 
stitution in  which  students  might  claim  as  much  pro- 
prietorship and  as  much  right  to  self  expression  as  in 
other  student  organizations  which  they  controlled. 

Since  1909  the  advance  has  been  noted  by  the  types 
of  institutions  and  activities,  by  the  increase  in  student 
initiative,  and  by  the  American  participation  in  na- 
tional and  international  affairs  where  Christian  women 
undergraduates  are  needed  to  round  out  some  strate- 
gic attack. 

269 


270       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

In  the  state  universities  there  have  been  in  this  last 
period  large  evangelistic  campaigns  where  field  and 
headquarters  secretaries  cooperated  with  leaders  of  the 
men  *s  student  movement.  In  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota there  was  cooperation  in  calling  a  religious  work 
director  for  the  two  Associations.  In  1907  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion called  its  own  religious  work  director.  This  As- 
sociation in  1912  also  raised  $18,000  to  meet  a  $20,000 
gift  for  a  building  of  its  own. 

In  the  church  colleges  there  was  also  cooperation  in 
evangelistic  services  with  the  clergymen  connected 
with  the  evangelistic  movements  of  the  denominations. 
The  college  presidents  and  officers  of  the  church  boards 
of  education  helped  in  formulating  the  part  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  could  best  take  in  the 
promotion  of  Christian  education;  this  seemed  to  be 
furnishing  a  means  of  expression  for  the  religious  life 
of  the  women  students,  helping  them  to  translate  their 
religion — sometimes  a  form  of  inherited  religion — into 
practical  Christian  living  both  before  and  after  gradu- 
ation. 

In  nurses'  training  schools  Bible  classes  were  organ- 
ized out  from  some  one  common  center,  or  a  regular 
student  Association  was  sometimes  possible  when  some 
keenly  interested  superintendent  or  senior  student  had 
time  to  make  it  a  living  reality.  When  the  National 
Board  assigned  Bertha  Conde  to  the  field  of  profes- 
sional schools,  she  concentrated  upon  the  nurses'  pro- 
fession and  in  1910  the  graduate  nurses  of  New  York 
City  formed  a  Central  Club  which  was  one  of  the 


THE  STUDENTS  271 

charter  branches  of  the  Metropolitan  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association.  In  May  of  that  year  the  club 
opened  two  houses  at  54  East  34th  Street,  called  a  gen- 
eral secretary,  and  continued  Bible  classes  in  hospitals 
for  nurses  in  training  as  well  as  among  the  graduates 
eligible  for  membership. 

In  New  York  City  also  an  art  students'  club  with  a 
religious  aim  was  begun  at  the  same  time  that  the 
Joint  Committee  was  laying  the  foundations  of  this 
present  national  movement,  and  was  affiliated  with 
the  Territorial  Committee  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey  in  January,  1907,  as  a  Studio  Club.  First  two 
rooms  were  occupied,  then  two  apartments,  then  in 
1912  there  was  given  a  splendid  house  at  35  East  62d 
Street,  where  seventy  students  live  and  hundreds 
of  non-resident  members  come  for  spiritual  and  social 
contact. 

Boston  undertook  metropolitan  student  work  in  1911 
without  a  building  and  though  the  secretary  *'rode  all 
unarmed  and  rode  all  alone,"  the  results  of  her  er- 
rantry are  already  seen  in  the  established  colleges  and 
amid  the  transient  tides  of  professional  students  of 
art,  music  and  drama  in  that  center. 

Before  the  recommendations  of  the  National  Board 
were  submitted  to  the  Convention  for  adoption  it  had 
sent  a  secretary  to  visit  colored  student  Associations, 
Mrs.  W.  A.  Hunton,  wife  of  the  senior  secretary  for 
the  colored  work  of  the  International  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  and  in  a  year  the  roll  of  As- 
sociations was  doubled  in  schools  on  government  and 
private  foundations  in  fifteen  states.    Colored  con- 


272       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ferences  have  been  held,  leaders  have  received  train- 
ing for  secretaryships  of  colored  branches  in  city 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  and  they  have 
had  a  place  in  the  great  intercollegiate  gatherings  of 
the  decade. 

In  May,  1914,  a  negro  student  convention  at  Clark 
University,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  brought  together  five 
hundred  and  twelve  colored  men  and  women  from 
eighty-five  schools  and  colleges,  and  ministers,  edu- 
cators, editors  and  other  leaders,  both  white  and  col- 
ored, for  a  five  days'  deliberation  under  the  chairman- 
ship of  Dr.  John  R.  Mott.  The  stated  purposes  are 
being  related  to  the  whole  membership  through  the 
student  Associations  and  will  help  in  gripping  the 
present  generation  of  Negro  students  with  strong  spir- 
itual and  moral  impulses  in  bringing  them  face  to  face 
with  Christian  life  callings  and  other  places  of  leader- 
ship, in  meeting  the  claims  and  crisis  of  Africa,  and  in 
bringing  Christian  thought  to  bear  on  present  and 
future  cooperation  of  the  races. 

The  smallest  group,  but  that  one  for  which  any  or- 
ganization writing  the  words  United  States  of  America 
in  its  charter  must  feel  the  keenest  responsibility, 
is  the  Indian  girls  who  have  found  their  way  to  the 
higher  schools  within  or  without  the  reservations. 
Some  of  the  Indian  Associations  were  many  years  old 
before  any  committee  or  secretary  made  a  study  of 
the  situation  and  aligned  the  Association  movement 
with  the  federal  government,  the  Council  of  Women 
for  Home  Missions,  the  Indian  Rights  Association  and 
other  helpful  agencies.    Some  had  found  a  big  sister 


THE  STUDENTS  273 

in  a  neighboring  University  Association,  as  Haskell 
Institute,  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  with  the  University 
of  Kansas;  the  state  secretaries  had  made  other 
friendly  alliances,  but  after  1909  it  was  possible  to 
make  a  long  enough,  strong  enough  bond  of  connection 
to  endeavor  to  surround  Indian  members  with  Associa- 
tion influences  even  when  they  had  gone  back  to  their 
homes. 

As  to  student  activities,  the  most  pronounced  ad- 
vance in  this  decade  has  been  in  the  relation  of  As- 
sociation Bible  classes  to  the  Sunday  school  and  the 
relation  of  curriculum  and  volunteer  classes.  The 
outcome  of  much  consultation  with  the  Intercollegiate 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  and  the  Sunday  School  Educa- 
tional Boards  of  the  evangelical  churches  was  framing 
a  comprehensive  course  of  voluntary  Christian  educa- 
tion to  be  promoted  jointly  by  the  Sunday  school  and 
the  Association,  planned  to  supplement  the  academic 
Bible  work,  to  include  the  daily  quiet  hour,  and  to  be 
based  on  Bible  study  one  semester  of  each  year,  and 
mission  and  social  study  the  other.  The  first  text 
authorized  was  ''Student  Standards  of  Action,"  by 
Ethel  Cutler  of  the  National  Board  staff  and  Harrison 
Elliott,  and  was  issued  in  time  for  the  first  semester  of 
191-^-1915.  Each  succeeding  semester  an  additional 
text  has  appeared. 

The  work  of  relating  graduates  to  some  form  of  com- 
munity service  on  a  wide  scale  was  begun  in  1911, 
when  859  seniors  in  colleges  stated  their  willingness  to 
take  up  the  burdens  of  the  old  home  towns  or  the  new 


274       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

place  of  work  or  permanent  residence.  The  first  year 
512  expressed  themselves  as  ready  to  help  in  the  church 
or  Sunday  school,  55  would  join  the  home  missionary 
societies,  80  the  foreign  societies  of  their  church,  583 
would  enter  social  and  philanthropic  channels  of  use- 
fulness, 175  specified  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  103  expected  to  help  in  women's  clubs  or 
granges.  These  recruits  were  referred  to  church 
boards  for  home  and  foreign  missions,  charity  organiz- 
ations, societies,  local  pastors  and  Association  leaders. 
The  last  census  (1915)  records  1,558  outgoing  students 
ready  for  work  in  940  towns  and  cities ;  of  which  1,250 
recruits  would  come  into  church  and  Sunday  school, 
135  into  the  Home  and  142  into  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Societies,  483  into  social  and  philanthropic  activi- 
ties, 460  into  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
and  445  into  women's  clubs  and  granges. 

Even  more  indicative  of  the  spirit  of  the  new  gen- 
eration is  the  student  initiative.  Within  the  college 
it  is  a  matter  of  course.  Organizations  abound  until 
it  requires  organized  effort  to  regulate  the  number  of 
major  or  minor  offices  that  can  be  held  by  one  student 
who  constantly  achieves,  or  has  thrust  upon  her,  posi- 
tions which  may  not  lead  to  emolument,  but  certainly 
evidence  trust.  Field  Committee  members'  duties  are 
so  vast,  that  only  a  few  faculty  women  can  spare  time 
for  the  visitation,  correspondence,  and  sitting  in  coun- 
cil that  would  accurately  represent  current  student 
life  to  this  larger  Association  group,  and  truly  inter- 
pret that  in  turn  to  the  undergraduates.  Alumnae 
soon  get  out  of  touch  or  those  who  are  committee  mem- 


THE  STUDENTS  275 

bers  may  not  know  the  adjacent  student  situation. 
Summer  conferences  are  inspiring,  but  they  are  made 
for  conf  rring,  not  legislating.  To  get  around  all 
these  difficulties  in  securing  the  undergraduates'  voice 
on  their  own  matters,  the  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 
Field  committee  devised  and  put  into  practice  in  1912 
the  Annual  Members'  plan.  For  each  group  of  three 
degree-conferring  colleges  or  universities  in  a  field 
division  of  the  national  organization,  one  upper  class- 
man is  chosen  to  be  for  one  year  a  member  of  the 
student  department  of  the  Field  Committee.  She 
meets  at  least  twice  in  the  year  with  the  department 
in  a  fonnal  meeting,  and  when  her  term  expires  is 
succeeded  by  next  year's  '* annual  member,"  elected 
from  the  next  in  order  of  the  three  colleges  in  her 
group. 

Student  initiative  is  also  carried  over  into  the  sum- 
mer conferences,  where  the  **self  government"  of  col- 
lege or  of  dormitory  is  reproduced  in  the  daily 
schedule  of  the  conference.  All  those  elements  of  life 
on  a  crowded  conference  estate  which  when  we  enjoy, 
we  call  personal,  and  which  when  others  enjoy  them  to 
our  discomfort,  we  call  public,  come  under  the  student 
government  of  a  conference.  The  idea  spread  further 
into  the  city  conferences  and  the  girls  vacation  camps 
where  college  girls  as  councillors  led  in  making  rules 
and  became  popular  in  enforcing  them. 

The  conferences  have  brought  the  girls  of  each 
student  generation  to  think  for  themselves  about  their 
own  careers,  because  representatives  from  the  church 
mission  boards  come  there  yearly  seeking  recruits  for 


276       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

vacant  posts  in  America  and  all  the  lands  of  the  globe 
where  Americans  are  needed. 

No  Christian  movement  of  the  twentieth  century- 
dares  to  stand  alone  or  tries  to  advance  alone.  Up  to 
1912  the  Intercollegiate  Department  of  the  North 
American  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  com- 
posed of  men  student  Associations  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  had  courteously  included  the 
women's  student  Associations  affiliated  with  the  Na- 
tional Board  and  the  Dominion  Council  of  Canada  as 
the  one  American  student  body,  incorporated  into  the 
World's  Student  Christian  Federation.  But  in  that 
year  a  definite  working  basis  and  program  were  estab- 
lished by  forming  the  Council  of  North  American 
Student  Movements,  of  three  members  from  each  of 
the  three  above  mentioned  forces  and  from  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement.  One  of  its  first  under- 
takings was  a  magazine,  The  North  American  Student y 
published  during  the  academic  year  beginning  March 
1913.  Into  it  was  merged  The  Intercollegian,  which 
had  in  turn  absorbed  The  Student  Volunteer.  The 
close  relations  with  Women's  Foreign  and  Home  Mis- 
sionary Boards  were  furthered  by  the  1913  conference 
on  plans  of  cooperation  when  delegates  from  twenty- 
four  boards  participated  in  a  two  days'  valuable  ses- 
sion under  the  hospitable  roof  of  the  national  head- 
quarters building. 

1913  was  truly  world  extension  year.  In  April  the 
delegates  at  the  Richmond  Convention  listened  to  a 
call,  the  first  that  had  ever  come  to  the  Associations  of 
the  United  States  after  nineteen  years  of  affiliation 


THE  STUDENTS  277 

with  the  World's  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  eighteen  years  of  affiliation  with  the  World 's 
Student  Christian  Federation,  a  call  to  look  into  our 
own  methods  of  procedure,  in  view  of  the  ends  we  were 
trying  to  reach  in  common  with  others,  but  by  means 
not  akin  to  theirs.  They  then  voted  to  appoint  a  com- 
mission '*to  consider  as  a  result  of  the  request  of  the 
General  Committee  of  the  World's  Student  Christian 
Federation,"  *'a  restatement  of  the  evangelical  basis 
in  student  Associations  in  personal  terms,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  method  of  the  Federation,"  and  later 
elected  such  a  commission.  This  reported  to  the  Na- 
tional Board  its  suggestions,  which  were  approved  and 
circulated  to  the  entire  field.  At  the  Los  Angeles  Con- 
vention in  April,  1915,  after  a  long  debate  in  which 
class  legislation,  the  ultimate  object  of  student  Asso- 
ciations, and  emphasis  upon  church  relationships  were 
presented,  the  first  vote  approved  the  following  amend- 
ment to  be  definitely  accepted  or  rejected  in  1918  at 
the  next  Convention. 

Any  student  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  may 
be  admitted  to  membership  whose  constitution  embodies  the 
following  provisions:  I.  The  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation of  ,  affirming  the  Christian  faith  in  God, 

the  Father;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord 
and  Saviour;  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Revealer  of  truth 
and  Source  of  power  for  life  and  service;  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Scripture  and  the  witness  of  the 
Church,  declares  its  purpose  to  be: 

Ptjepose 

1.  To  lead  students  to  faith  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ; 

2.  To  lead  them  into  membership  and  service  in  the  Chris- 

tian Church; 


278       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

3.  To  promote  their  growth  in  Christian  faith  and  char- 

acter, especially  through  the  study  of  the  Bible; 

4.  To  influence  them  to  devote  themselves,  in  united  effort 

with   all   Christians,  to  making  the  will  of  Christ 
effective   in    human    society,    and   to   extending   the 
Kingdom  of  God  throughout  the  world. 
II.    Membebship. 

Any  woman  of  the  institution  may  be  a  member  of  the 
Association  provided: 

1.  That  she  is  in  sympathy  with  the  purpose  of  the  Asso- 

ciation ; 

2.  That  she  makes  the  following  declaration: 

"It  is  my  purpose  to  live  as  a  true  follower  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

III.      QUAHriCATIONS    FOR   LEADERSHIP. 

1.  All  members  of  the  Cabinet   (officers  and  chairmen  of 

standing  committees)  shall  commit  themselves  to 
furthering  the  purpose  of  the  Association. 

2.  Two-thirds  of  the  Cabinet  members  shall  be  members 

of  Churches  which  are  entitled  to  representation  in 
the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America,  and  only  those  delegates  who  are  members 
of  such  Churches  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  con- 
ventions ; 

3.  Members  of  the  Advisory  Board  shall  meet  the  qualifi- 

cations of  Cabinet  members. 

In  June  of  1913  the  Tenth  Conference  of  the 
World's  Student  Christian  Federation  met  in  the 
United  States,  at  Lake  Mohonk,  New  York.  There 
were  preliminary  meetings  in  Princeton,  where  a 
statue  by  Daniel  Chester  French  was  unveiled.  This 
was  a  bronze  figure  of  heroic  size  representing  "The 
Student  Christian"  and  commemorating  the  origin  of 
the  Intercollegiate  movement  there  in  1877.  There 
was  a  garden  party  at  Greyston,  Kiverdale,  a  dress 
parade  at  West  Point,  and  on  the  evening  of  June  2 
there  were  met  with  one  accord  in  one  place  three 


THE  STUDENTS  279 

hundred  and  twenty  delegates  from  forty  countries, 
and  under  their  motto  **Ut  omnes  unum  sint"  they 
thought  and  spoke  and  prayed  together.  Full  of 
meaning  was  this  petition  framed  for  Times  of  Re- 
treat. 

O  Lord  JesuB  Christ,  Who  didst  say  to  Thine  apostles, 
"Come  ye  apart  into  a  desert  place  and  rest  awhile,"  for  there 
were  many  coming  and  going,  grant,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  Thy 
servants  here  gathered  together,  that  they  may  rest  awhile, 
at  this  present  time,  with  Thee.  May  they  so  seek  Thee, 
when  their  souls  desire  to  love  Thee,  that  they  may  both 
find  Thee  and  be  found  of  Thee.  And  grant  such  love  and 
such  wisdom  to  accompany  the  words  which  shall  be  spoken 
in  Thy  name,  that  they  may  not  fall  to  the  ground,  but  may 
be  helpful  in  leading  us  onward  through  the  toils  of  our 
pilgrimage  to  that  rest  which  remaineth  to  the  people  of 
God;  where,  nevertheless,  they  rest  not  day  and  night  from 
Thy  perfect  service,  VVho  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  livest  and  reignest  ever  one  God,  world  without  encL 
Amen. 

Women  had  not  met  with  the  Federation  in  1897 
at  Williamstown  when  once  before  Americans  were 
the  hosts,  but  forty  official  women  delegates  from  the 
United  States  of  America  were  present  at  Mohonk,  be- 
sides many  Oriental  and  other  foreign  students  ma- 
triculated in  colleges  and  Christian  training  schools 
here.  There  was  no  business ;  each  person  present  was 
at  liberty  to  appropriate  any  part  of  the  presentations 
of  student  life,  thought,  and  religious  opportunity 
to  her  own  use,  and  that  of  the  students  she  served  as 
class  mate  or  faculty  member  or  dean  or  secretary  or 
in  any  capacity. 

But  in  December,  1913,  a  goodly  percentage  of  five 


280       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

thousand  passengers,  arriving  in  Kansas  City  the 
morning  of  December  31  for  the  Seventh  Convention 
of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  were  young 
women,  although  all  the  inspiring  voices  from  the  main 
platform  were  those  of  men.  But  in  the  sectional 
meetings  there  were  scores  of  women  missionaries  who 
knew  the  life  of  women  and  children  in  the  Far  East 
and  the  Near  East  and  Latin  America,  and  who  knew 
where  best  the  undergraduates  who  were  pondering 
over  the  location  of  their  lives,  could  plant  each  one 
her  own  life,  and  there  were  women  in  the  company 
which  sat  on  the  platform  Sunday  night,  that  last 
great  night  of  the  feast.  They  heard  read  the  list  of 
Volunteers  who  had  died  during  the  last  quadrennium 
and  joined  in  singing,  **For  all  the  saints  who  from 
their  labors  rest. ' '  Some  of  them  spoke  briefly  of  their 
reasons  for  offering  their  lives  under  the  supreme  com- 
mand, and  then  came  down  to  shake  hands  with  their 
friends  in  farewell  and  receive  their  congratulations 
at  being  able  to  obey  that  command. 

This  Convention,  which  comes  once  in  a  student  gen- 
eration, speaks  not  only  to  those  whose  careers  are  yet 
to  be  settled,  and  to  those  who  can  transfer  to  a  voca- 
tion in  a  foreign  country,  some  occupation  begun  here, 
but  to  the  undergraduates  who  can  introduce  a  vital 
spiritual  atmosphere  and  a  missionary  propaganda 
in  their  own  colleges,  to  the  church  and  Association 
leaders  who  are  teaching  women  to  love  to  give,  and  to 
those  students  from  other  lands  who  had  not  found  in 
our  United  States  the  brand  of  Christianity  of  which 
home-loyal  missionaries  had  told  them. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  CITY  GIRLS 

WHAT  is  a  city?  The  answer  changes  with 
every  decade.  ''Where  people  live  and 
work,"  was  a  close  enough  definition  at 
first  for  Association  statistics.  Then  it  was  any  place 
where  people  did  anything  but  study,  and  we  had  City 
Associations  and  College  Associations.  Then  it  was 
any  place  willing  to  begin,  even  if  not  able  to  sustain, 
an  independent  Association.  Geography  and  politics 
also  help  in  this  identification.  One  may  speak  of 
cities  over  500,000  population,  between  500,000  and 
100,000,  between  100,000  and  25,000,  and  under 
25,000.  369  cities  over  12,000  were  enumerated  by 
the  census  when  the  National  Board  began  to  chart  its 
field.  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  exist 
in  all  of  these  strata.  In  all  of  these,  some  people  un- 
derstand that  the  Association  is  **the  members — not 
the  building,''  and  some  fancy  that  the  building  and 
its  privileges,  how  much  can  be  bought  for  a  dollar 
membership  fee,  and  what  must  be  shopped  for  in  the 
various  departments,  is  the  real  Association. 

When  a  building  or  the  building  is  the  embodiment 
of  the  loyalty  and  enthusiasm  of  the  members,  that 
glorifies  it  as  nothing  else  can  adorn  it,  from  the  swim- 

281 


282       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ming  pool  in  the  basement  to  the  moving  picture  in- 
stallation and  soda  fountain  on  the  roof.  It  is  also 
praiseworthy  according  to  its  figurative  windows  and 
doors.  From  how  many  windows  do  the  workers  look 
out  upon  the  community  and  see  all  the  girls  as  they 
move  about  in  all  directions?  Are  there  plenty  of 
doors  on  the  four  sides  for  girls  to  come  in — ^large 
doors  for  great  assemblies,  and  little  doors  for  steady, 
everyday  wants  ? 

Some  buildings,  like  those  in  Brooklyn,  in  Minne- 
apolis, in  Milwaukee,  in  Rochester,  in  South  Bend, 
show  that  some  one  donor  saw  that  what  young  women 
had  accomplished  in  cramped,  rented  quarters  was 
good,  but  with  a  bigger  place  all  their  own  they  could 
do  and  have  and  be  better,  hence  a  splendid  gift  was 
made.  Some  buildings,  like  those  in  Youngstown, 
Ohio,  or  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  and  elsewhere,  show  that 
the  whole  community  of  young  women  believed  in  the 
Association  and  they  often  worked  quietly  for  years, 
and  culminated  in  one  final  wild  whirlwind  campaign 
to  make  up  the  required  sum. 

The  campaign  which  has  been  most  noised  abroad 
was  the  $4,000,000  campaign  which  closed  on  Thanks- 
giving Eve  of  1913,  in  which  $3,000,000  was  given 
for  seven  Young  Women 's  Christian  Association  build- 
ings in  New  York  City.  One  of  these  was  the  already 
completed  National  Headquarters  and  six  were  for 
various  branches  of  the  metropolitan  Association  ef- 
fected in  1912  as  the  first  example  of  genuine  metro- 
politan organization. 

New  nomenclature  has  been  introduced.     In  early 


THE  CITY  GIRLS  383 

years  one  often  spoke  of  the  Association  as  the 
*'Home."  Almost  every  feature  of  certain  Associa- 
tions was  for  the  permanent  or  transient  residents  of 
the  home.  Then  the  boarding  home  was  called  the 
"Association"  and  sometimes  it  dominated  or  elbowed 
out  other  departments,  sometimes  it  was  encroached 
upon  by  them.  Then  separate  buildings  were  erected, 
and  by  1913  the  newly  christened  *' Residence*'  was 
more  generally  regarded  as  simply  one  effort  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  to  solve  the 
young  women's  housing  problem  of  that  city.  It  was 
an  important  department,  but  still  a  department. 
Even  with  the  addition  of  *'The  Harriet  Judson"  in 
Brooklyn  and  the  *'Mary  Clark  Memorial"  Home  in 
Los  Angeles,  the  capacity  of  all  Association  residences 
is  only  7,207,  though  with  the  ceaseless  coming  and  go- 
ing, permanent  residents  and  transient  guests  have 
numbered  157,380  in  a  year.  But  members'  initiative 
is  flourishing  and  nearly  every  house  has  effected  some 
sort  of  inside  organization  for  social  and  religious  ex- 
pression, growth  and  enjoyment. 

*' Members,  not  building,"  is  the  key  to  much  of  the 
recent  development.  It  explains  the  Stenographers' 
Association  in  the  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  Associa- 
tion; the  Members'  Council  at  Aurora,  Illinois;  the 
Onondaga  Indian  Girls'  Club  in  Syracuse;  the  Busi- 
ness Women's  Club  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  where  they 
have  erected  standards  seen  only  by  their  results  in 
professional  and  personal  life;  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
where  they  have  erected  a  Woodland  Lodge,  goodly  to 
look  at  and  to  live  in.    There  are  now  almost  as  many 


284.       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

club  ideas  and  practices  as  clubs,  all  are  inventors; 
clubs  of  graduates  from  the  business  courses  and  the 
cooking  schools,  choral  clubs  which  have  competed  in 
song  festivals,  clubs  from  every  department.  Even  in 
the  employment  bureau  of  St.  Louis  over  a  hundred 
hotel  maids  gathered  regularly  for  a  Bible  class,  prayer 
circle,  and  Sunday  afternoon  supper,  helped  support 
the  Association's  foreign  secretary,  took  charge  of  a 
monthly  service  in  a  sanatorium,  and  created  other 
ways  of  reaching  and  sharing  an  abundant  life.  The 
Hermosa  Club,  of  Los  Angeles,  set  a  fine  example  to 
other  young  women  in  domestic  occupations,  though 
their  club  house  on  the  Pacific  Coast  has  not  been 
rivalled  as  yet. 

Inside  the  buildings  the  members  have  come  for 
classes;  at  least  twenty  per  cent,  join  for  these  privi- 
leges. They  have  taken  courses  in  First  Aid  to  the 
Injured  and  received  certificates  at  first  signed  by 
President  Taft  of  the  American  Red  Cross  Society 
and  Miss  Dodge,  President  of  the  National  Board. 
They  have  learned  the  laws  of  sex  with  all  their  social 
and  moral  ramifications.  When  work  in  their  own 
trade  was  slack  they  have  prepared  themselves  by 
special  study  to  do  work  that  the  Association  had 
discovered  was  in  demand.  They  have  come  in  the 
evening  because  they  were  earning  during  the  day, 
and  they  have  come  by  day  to  fit  themselves  to  earn, 
or  because  father  or  husband  had  already  earned 
for  them.  They  came  to  the  gymnasium  to  exercise 
their  bodies  or  their  spirits,  they  came  winter  and 
summer  to  the  swimming  pools  to  learn  to  float  and 


■w^^^^^K.^            '    'S 

mI^^H 

imBJBI 

tmmmtt^M 

HF^ 

■H^B 

^      v-'.'k.l^Kp                       rq| 

1^'-  1^1    ^^^H 

>R . .   M 

y^L^  '^    -'■^^1 

K^J    ^^B 

[■I 

il 

i£| 

nm 

^w^B 

Wmi  HI 

•  '*'«'BK!  ISgH 

1^ 

-*^Jnr     mt 

1^ 

■  all  ^^ 

^~  t  w 

j^ 

'  ^  ^8 

i'l 

Pi  1  ^^1 

'^?l^E^  f*^^l 

Hl^l 

"m^Bp,^/^ 

^B  ^H 

^^^M 

«H 

'_«;  PH 

H^H 

'  ■■■■  ^^H^^^w 

WB  IIH'j^^S^V?'' 

'iS^J^mM 

hI^B|: 

fllgwl 

^^Bl^^^^^l^r 

■*T"f^^^ 

^^B^^*"™™"™  ^^^Hi^ 

"i~ 

•^ 

o 

HH  O 

PS  ^~' 

o  ;=! 


o  <5 


THE  CITY  GIRLS  285 

dive  and  laugh.  They  came  week  days  and  Sundays 
into  long  or  short  course  Bible  classes,  and  for  vespers, 
and  for  meetings  and  classes  which  they  planned  and 
conducted  for  fellowship  in  soul  growth,  fellowship 
with  their  known  friends,  and  with  other  young  women 
not  of  the  fold  but  who  could  really  become  one  flock 
and  might  own  one  Shepherd. 

Outside  the  building  they  have  been  just  as  truly 
on  their  own  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
premises,  as  they  have  frequented  the  downtown  lunch 
rooms  or  played  on  the  athletic  field  or  congregated 
as  students  of  high  schools  or  business  colleges  or  met 
in  temporary  quarters  rented  in  the  locality  that  best 
met  their  convenience.  Some  of  the  members  of  col- 
ored branches  worked  so  splendidly  in  the  great 
finance  campaigns  that  they  can  erect  their  own  beau- 
tifully appointed  headquarters. 

The  last  clause  in  the  recommended  city  constitution 
of  1912  makes  this  all  plain  by  stating  the  purpose. 

To  associate  young  women  in  personal  loyalty  to  Jesus 
Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord;  to  promote  growth  in  Christian 
character  and  service  through  physical,  social,  mental  and 
spiritual  training,  and  to  become  a  social  force  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

A  once  popular  hymn  began, 

Throw  out  the  life  line  across  the  dark  wave. 

Some  decades  later  we  realize  that  the  enemies  of 
girls'  souls  are  working  when  the  lights  are  brightest. 
So  the  modern  Association  steps  over  its  own  thresh- 
old. 


286       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Where  cross  the  crowded  ways  of  life 
Where  sound  the  cries  of  race  and  clan 
Above  the  noise  of  selfish  strife 
We  hear  Thy  voice,  0  Son  of  Man. 

Some  of  the  most  powerful  evangelistic  messages 
which  the  girls  of  a  city  ever  went  to  hear  were  de- 
livered in  theatres.  The  Rochester  Association  in 
1904  paid  $458  for  an  opera  house  and  speakers  for 
four  Sunday  afternoons.  Two  thousand  girls  in  Los 
Angeles  represented  to  that  community  the  abundant 
life  which  Christ  came  to  bring,  by  giving  the  Pageant, 
The  Ministering  of  the  Gift,  in  1914.  They  have  or- 
ganized Know  Your  City  weeks  where  by  lecture  and 
visitation  information  was  gained  and  diffused  about 
the  status  of  the  city  at  that  very  moment.  The  City 
Council,  Public  Health,  Child  Life,  Courts  and  Jails, 
Charities,  Welfare  Work,  Industrial  Life,  Amuse- 
ments, Housing  Conditions,  Immigration  and  kindred 
conditions  and  institutions  were  discussed.  They  have 
cooperated  with  the  churches  of  which  they  are  a 
standing  committee  on  young  women's  righteousness, 
in  occasional  and  protracted  religious  meetings,  they 
have  found  teachers  for  classes  and  sometimes  pupils 
for  the  teachers.  Groups  of  members  have  met  in 
homes  to  study  the  Bible,  or  the  unfolding  page  of  the 
foreign  Association  story.  They  have  come  together 
Sunday  afternoon  on  a  shady  lawn  for  a  quiet  service 
or  have  brought  sacred  music  into  a  far  corner  of  a 
city  park.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of  members  in 
the  Central  and  Eastern  states  have  lavished  their  time 
and  strength  as  loyal  church  members  during  great 


THE  CITY  GIRLS  287 

evangelistic  campaigns,  and  then  kept  on  through  the 
following  months  and  years  after  the  tabernacle  was 
dark  and  the  voice  of  the  evangelist  and  the  sound  of 
the  singing  were  no  longer  heard  in  that  city,  helping 
into  Christian  tastes  and  habits  the  new  followers  of 
their  own  Lord.  They  have  carried  Travelers'  Aid 
work  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  other  societies,  they 
have  been  in  league  with  police  departments  to  conduct 
to  the  Association  headquarters  girls  and  women  who 
were  perishing  because  they  did  not  know  where  to 
find  these  Isles  of  Safety,  or  did  not  know  that  there 
was  any  such  thing  as  a  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  to  ensure  safety.  And  several  cities 
watching  the  tide  of  affairs  added  to  their  staffs 
"police  women,"  as  the  protective  agents  were  styled. 
*'You  build  a  great  building  and  then  you  try  to 
see  how  much  you  can  do  outside  it!"  Yes — for  the 
weeks  of  opportunities  are  not  all  in  the  winter,  as 
was  once  taken  for  granted.  The  summer  program  is 
often  as  heavy,  though  vastly  different.  From  1910 
to  1912  the  number  of  summer  camps  and  cottages  in- 
creased more  than  200  per  cent.  These  are  not  all 
owned  outright;  college  dormitories  in  the  suburbs 
sheltered  guests  who  turned  trolleywards  every  morn- 
ing; winter  homes  have  been  put  at  the  disposal  of 
Southern  Associations,  even  state  barracks  have  been 
loaned  when  girl  guests  from  the  whole  municipality 
were  invited.  Neighboring  Associations  have  set  up 
their  tents  side  by  side  and  within  the  Field  Commit- 
tees' great  camps  on  the  lakes  or  ocean,  and  among 
the  hills  and  mountains,  city  girls  have  come  together 


288       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

for  the  summer  season.  "We  came,  two  girls  to- 
gether, for  two  weeks.  We  went  away  knowing  two 
hundred  girls  and  will  never  stop  being  acquainted 
with  them/' 

But  the  clearest  proof  of  the  democracy  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  some  one  has 
said,  is  the  City  Summer  Conference,  and  among  the 
1,502  city  delegates  at  six  conferences  in  1915,  coming 
from  224  places,  there  was  a  record  of  83  occupations 
in  which  they  spent  their  work  days,  and  38  church 
affiliations  through  which  they  worshiped  on  Sunday. 

Might  one  say  that  the  democracy  aimed  at  is  of  the 
nature  which  does  not  declare  ' '  I  am  as  good  as  she  is, ' ' 
but  ''She  is  as  good  as  I"? 


L 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE   GIRLS    IN    INDUSTRY 

**  Y      ET  US  resolve  that  in  the  new  body  we  will 
work  with  girls,  not  for  them." 

This  was  the  thought  of  a  letter  written  to 
the  chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee  in  1906. 

An  invitation  to  grown  up  people  to  '^Come  and 
work  with  us"  is  almost  as  acceptable  as  an  invitation 
to  children  to  ' '  Come  and  play  with  us. ' '  And  among 
the  1,199,452  women  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical 
pursuits,  the  142,265  saleswomen,  the  21,980  telephone 
and  telegraph  operators  and  the  328,935  employees  in 
laundries,  there  were  hundreds  of  proved  leaders  al- 
ready a  part  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation. Not  the  cities  alone  but  the  prairie  towns 
with  their  canning  factories,  the  hillside  villages  with 
their  water  powers,  the  fruit  regions  with  their  pack- 
ing houses,  become  industrial  centers,  and  when  girls 
come  together  in  any  kind  of  a  center,  association  is 
possible  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion may  be  needed. 

It  was  reported  in  1909  that  14,877  young  women 
in  the  industrial  field  had  some  part  in  the  weekly 
classes  and  meetings  held  in  mills  and  factories  and 
business  places,  while  3,046  were  club  members  in 

289 


200       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

eighty-nine  Associations.  Fifty-five  industrial  and 
extension  secretaries  were  helping  in  bringing  people 
together  and  working  out  plans  which  needed  an  out- 
side ally.  Besides  this  general  extension  of  manifold 
interests  from  the  main  administration  there  were 
several  separate  industrial  and  branch  Associations. 

Early  in  1904  young  women  in  the  cotton  mill  vil- 
lages of  the  Piedmont  section/  South  Carolina,  were 
able  to  open  a  local  Association  by  the  generosity  of 
the  mill  managers,  notably  Mr.  Thomas  F.  Parker  of 
the  Monaghan  Mills,  Greenville,  who  set  apart  a  place 
for  the  general  activities  and  a  cottage  for  the  general 
secretary  and  teacher  of  household  economics.  In 
1905  the  office  and  factory  employees  of  the  Larkin 
Company  of  Buffalo  evolved  an  Association  with 
classes  and  most  of  the  usual  all-round  features  as  a 
branch  of  the  Buffalo  Association,  and  this  scheme  was 
adopted  in  many  details  in  several  other  manufactur- 
ing houses,  chiefly  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 

The  next  step  in  working  with  this  great  group,  one 
third  of  all  the  women  over  sixteen  years  of  age  in 
gainful  occupations  at  that  time,  was  a  resolution 
adopted  at  Indianapolis  in  1911. 

That  ill  order  to  make  more  far-reaching  the  contact  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  with  women  in 
industry,  the  extension  of  Association  work  into  factories 
through  noon  meetings,  classes  and  informal  clubs  be  con- 
tinued, and  whenever  possible  in  preference  to  organizing 
Associations  within  factory  walls,  the  establishment  of 
rented  centers  in  the  industrial  sections  of  cities  be  advo- 
cated and  employers  be  encouraged  to  contribute  to  the  funds 
of  the  central  Association  which  shall  employ  the  secretaries 
in  charge  of  this  work. 


THE  GIRLS  IN  INDUSTRY  2S1 

And  after  this  came  Federation.  For  nearly  a 
score  of  years  the  self-governing  club  in  the  factory 
had  been  the  favorite  form  of  cooperation.  In  cities 
where  club  officers  and  forewomen  from  several  estab- 
lishments met  to  discuss  common  interests,  it  was  nat- 
ural to  think  of  making  closer  contact  between  the  club 
memberships.  Detroit  projected  the  idea  of  a  Feder- 
ation of  Industrial  Clubs  from  the  original  Grace 
Whitney  Hoff  League,  begun  in  1908.  Then  Akron 
and  other  cities  followed.  This  has  developed  as  an 
industrial  movement  which  belongs  to  the  girls,  ac- 
customed to  self  government  by  the  management  of 
their  own  factory  clubs,  and  finds  a  place  in  the  City 
Association  through  membership  there  taken  for 
granted  in  the  club  membership. 

It  is  true  that  the  great  summer  conferences  were 
democratic  and  catered  to  all  tastes,  but  so  much  was 
offered,  conscientious  club  leaders  followed  so  exacting 
a  program  schedule,  that  the  joyful  days  failed  as  va- 
cation. The  club  girls'  daily  councils  were  the  heart 
of  their  whole  conference.  This  made  easy  transfer- 
ence to  the  vacation  camps  of  the  Field  Committees, 
and  in  1913  the  club  girls'  council  was  discontinued 
at  Silver  Bay  and  the  club  members  of  the  North- 
eastern Associations  came  together  at  Altamont,  New 
York,  and  those  of  the  Delaware,  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania Associations  at  Camp  Nepahwin,  Canton, 
Pennsylvania,  for  conference  on  their  own  work,  and 
quiet  hours  of  Bible  study  and  intimate  religious  meet- 
ings to  gain  inspiration  to  do  what  they  saw  before 
them.    Other  sections  continued  the  idea. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE  COUNTBY  GIRLS 

TV  ^EMBERS,  not  equipment,"  is  equally 
^         I  %/|     *^^  active  principle  of  work  in  the  coun- 

i  ▼  J.  try,  but  members  with  the  cooperation 
of  a  secretary  of  their  own,  working  toward  a  higher 
spiritual  and  mental  and  social  and  physical  and  eco- 
nomic plane. 

In  the  series  of  resolutions  adopted  at  the  St.  Paul 
Convention  in  1909  the  unit  of  organizations  for  towns 
of  12,000  and  under,  and  adjoining  communities,  was 
fixed  as  the  County  Association.  At  the  same  time 
there  was  more  or  less  discussion  of  rural  development, 
but  in  the  ''Secretaries'  Association"  Conference 
which  followed  in  Plymouth  Church,  Minneapolis,  the 
keenest  interest  centered  in  the  section  for  county 
workers,  when  Elizabeth  IMcKenzie  recounted  the 
bursting  into  Association  life  of  Woodford  County, 
Illinois. 

A  girls'  club  in  the  little  college  town  of  Eureka, 
Illinois,  had  found  a  way  to  open  up  clubs,  Bible  study, 
and  a  class  in  physical  education  in  the  college  gym- 
nasium taught  by  the  physical  director  of  the  Peoria 
Association.  This  was  the  beginning,  and  on  October 
17,  1908,  girls  and  women  came  together  in  the  Pres- 

292 


THE  COUNTRY  GIRLS  293 

byterian  Church  at  El  Paso  and  organized  a  county 
Young  Women's  Association.  In  April  there  were 
two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  members  in  seven  branches 
in  small  towns,  ranging  up  to  2,545  in  population.  In 
Roanoke  they  had  furnished  rooms,  used  as  a  center 
for  the  farmers'  wives  who  came  to  town  for  shopping, 
and  for  their  own  classes  in  gymnasium  drill,  normal 
Bible  study  and  shirt  waist  making.  Washburn  mem- 
bers held  their  gymnasium  class  in  a  board  member's 
home.  The  El  Paso  girls  turned  their  Christmas  Gift 
Club  into  a  self-governing  evening  club  which  they 
named  **Alta  Vista,"  and  took  for  it  the  altruistic 
motto,  **Give  to  the  world  the  best  that  you  have,  and 
the  best  will  come  back  to  you."  An  alumna  of  the 
University  of  Illinois  who  had  also  been  graduated 
through  the  various  degrees  of  committee,  cabinet,  and 
conference  of  that  student  Association  was  chairman 
of  the  local  committee  in  Minonk  where  a  Bible  class 
of  twenty-two  and  a  sewing  class  of  eight  were  the 
stated  weekly  gatherings  of  members.  There  had  been 
nearly  five  hundred  present  at  the  seven  social  gather- 
ings held  during  two  months  in  the  whole  county. 

The  college  girls  were  also  heard  from  at  Minneap- 
olis. Another  report  came  from  the  University  of 
Michigan,  where  a  group  of  seniors  whose  homes  were 
in  small  communities  had  formed  a  club  to  study  what 
they  could  do  for  their  home  localities  after  leaving 
college.  In  line  with  this  was  the  account  of  a  class, 
other  than  of  seniors,  in  the  University  of  Kansas  As- 
sociation, studying  what  may  be  accomplished  through 
the  channels  of  home,  church  and  school  in  small  com- 


294       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

munities.  Each  member  determined  to  work  out  some 
of  the  methods  during  her  vacation  days  and  to  report 
progress. 

Under  these  two  heads  have  the  women  and  girls 
of  the  small  towns  and  country  been  developing  their 
Association  life,  permanent  county  organization,  and 
summer  Eight  Week  Clubs.  **How  can  I,  except 
some  one  shall  guide  me?"  is  not  only  the  cry  of  the 
solitary  traveler  in  the  desert  between  Jerusalem  and 
Gaza,  it  is  the  cry  of  the  isolated  girls  of  the  country 
districts  of  the  United  States.  The  Eight  Week  Clubs 
which  Helen  F.  Barnes  started  in  Texas  and  elsewhere 
stood  for  eight  weeks  of  learning  how  during  the  col- 
lege year,  and  eight  weeks  of  passing  on  in  the  sum- 
mer vacation,  passing  on  in  that  most  difficult  of  all 
fields  for  new  enterprises,  one's  own  home  neighbor- 
hood. The  girls  who  came  back  to  college  had  so  much 
to  tell  that  was  new  and  absorbing  and  girls  who 
stayed  on  at  home  had  so  much  to  do  and  think  of  that 
was  new  and  suggestive,  that  nation-wide  expansion 
was  next  in  order  and  in  the  spring  of  1913  a  detailed 
plan  was  sent  to  all  student  Associations  offering  a 
certificate  of  Commendation  for  Community  Service 
to  clubs  making  adequate  report  of  adequate  service. 
These  certificates  were  signed  by  Miss  Dodge  and  by 
Miss  Jessie  Woodrow  Wilson  of  the  National  Student 
Committee.  The  purpose  as  stated  in  the  outline  could 
almost  be  pieced  together  line  by  line  from  the  reports 
of  the  three  following  seasons. 

To  bring  the  girls  and  young  women  in  smaller  communi- 
ties together  during  the  summer  vacation  season  for  the  pur- 


THE  COUNTRY  GIRLS  295 

pose  of  learning  some  of  those  things  which  mean  a  happier 
and  more  useful  life;  to  unite  them  for  definite  service  to 
their  home  neighborhoods;  to  learn  about  the  work  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  and  to  be  of  help  in 
bringing  its  opportunities  to  other  girls  in  the  country  and 
small  towns. 

The  reports  for  1915  give  figures  as  follows:  213 
Eight  Week  Clubs  with  a  total  membership  of  3,668 
girls  and  with  leaders  representing  98  different  col- 
leges. 

Any  team  work  soon  means  a  conference.  The  title 
of  the  Central  City  Conference  was  changed  to  Cen- 
tral City  and  County  in  1914,  and  there  were  eighty 
representatives  from  fourteen  counties  who  enjoyed  it 
but  asked  for  their  own  conference  for  1915.  This 
the  National  Board  arranged  at  the  nearby  site,  Con- 
ference Point,  by  which  name  old  Camp  Collie  again 
comes  upon  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
scene.  Here  in  1886  nineteen  college  girls  from  eight 
states  had  started  their  National  Association,  a  work 
so  visibly  feeble  that  almost  anything  might  break  it 
down.  Yet  within  eight  years  it  was  seen  around  the 
world  and  must  be  modeled  after  in  India  and  else- 
where where  the  World's  Committee  had  oversight. 
Here  in  1915  eighty-three  girls  from  the  small  towns 
and  open  country  of  twelve  counties  in  seven  of  these 
same  states,  and  four  others,  came  together  for  the 
first  county  summer  conference,  and  no  one  dares  pre- 
dict what  they  may  achieve  in  that  same  space  of  years. 

So  much  for  facts.  The  inspiration  comes  to  many 
through  memorizing  the  ** Helen  Gk)uld  Bible  Verses," 
as  the  list  of  Scripture  passages  is  called,  for  learning 


296       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

which  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard  gives  every  member  a 
copy  of  the  Bible.  Although  the  offer  is  open  to  all 
Association  members  yet  the  country  girls  seem  to  have 
more  quiet  time  for  committing  verses  to  memory. 
Inspiration  comes  to  others  through  the  county  camps 
like  Camp  Chedwell  of  Chautauqua  County.  Inspira- 
tion comes  to  all  through  cooperating  with  country 
churches  and  realizing  that  while  the  county  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  are  a  part  of  a  new 
country  life  movement,  they  are  also  part  of  an  es- 
tablished Christian  order  centuries  old,  adapted  not 
alone  to  ''yesterday/'  but  equally  well  to  ''to-day  and 
forever." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  YOUNG   GIELS 

**X"       ITTLE     Girls'     Christian     Association.''      y^ 
I  This   comprehensive   title  was   the  name 

M  J  which  a  company  of  children  in  Oakland, 
California,  were  pleased  to  take  thirty-five  years  ago. 
Their  desire  to  become  an  auxiliary  of  the  Oakland 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was  granted, 
and  though  their  Saturday  morning's  meetings  did  not 
continue  for  any  length  of  time,  nor  their  charitable 
exertions  in  collecting  clothes  and  distributing  them 
to  the  poor  families  persist  until  all  the  deserving  and 
undeserving  of  the  town  had  been  freshly  clad,  yet  the 
children  were  happy,  did  much  good  and  were  over- 
joyed at  the  thought  of  being  lawfully  connected  with 
an  international  movement. 

More  persistent  has  been  the  girls'  branch  in  Pough- 
keepsie,  which  claimed  for  many  years  to  be  the  only 
definitely  organized  branch  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 
On  March  30,  1886,  girls  from  ten  to  sixteen  years  of 
age  formed  a  miniature  Association  and  within  a  year 
counted  one  hundred  and  ten  members  and  a  secretary 
of  their  own.  Bertha  Van  Vliet.  They  had  raised  i 
money  towards  furnishing  a  reading  room,  and  a 
game  room.    They  had  also  a  spacious  hall  for  enter-      ^ 

297  ' 


y- 


298       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

tainments  and  calisthenics,  but  were  not  content  with 
this  and  found  time  during  the  three  afternoons  of 
each  week  for  cooking  and  music  classes.  They  chose 
their  own  members  as  leaders  of  their  Monday  half 
hour  devotional  meetings. 

Young  girls  were  in  evidence  in  most  of  the  city 
Associations,  sometimes  welcomed  as  **the  women  of 
to-morrow, ' '  sometimes  unwelcome  and  sometimes  con- 
sidered a  natural  detriment  because  older  girls  did  not 
like  *'to  find  the  rooms  full  of  little  girls,''  as  the  fact 
was  sometimes  hospitably  stated.  They  were  always 
allowed  in  a  Saturday  morning  gymnasium  class,  how- 
ever. In  the  '90 's  the  Association  tried  to  assemble 
all  the  junior  activities  in  some  form  of  branch  organ- 
ization on  the  segregation  principle.  Even  so  late  as 
1909  there  were  only  ten  junior  department  secre- 
taries. 

But  the  girls  were  to  have  their  day.  As  the  self 
governing  clubs  made  their  way  along,  young  girls 
kept  proving  in  them  their  capacity  for  self-control 
and  cooperation.  They  showed  that  they  could  be  on 
hand  and  not  under  foot.  In  the  rooms  or  building  a 
line  between  children  and  girls  of  Association  age 
was  drawn.  Then  the  secretaries  began  confessing 
that  they  needed  to  know  more  about  girls  before 
they  could  deal  fairly  and  justly  and  affectionately  by 
<  individual  girls,  and  they  took  the  topic  of  the  Adoles- 
cent Girl  for  their  Minneapolis  Conference  in  1909. 
^After  that  they  "stayed  not  for  brake,  and  they 
stopped  not  for  stone";  they  besieged  the  National 
Board  for  help  and  they  took  counsel  with  the  active 


THE  YOUNG  GIRLS  299 

girls  in  their  own  Associations,  the  high  school 
students  and  grade  girls,  the  girls  who  had  stopped 
school  to  go  to  work  and  for  other  reasons.  They  put 
a  plank  into  the  platform  of  the  County  Association. 
All  the  resources  of  the  Association  were  now  opened 
everywhere. 

The  National  Board  through  many  volunteers  and 
secretaries  took  part  in  those  days  and  months  of 
consultation  in  the  Board  Room  of  the  National  offices 
and  of  demonstration  at  the  Studio  Club  before  the 
arcana  of  the  Camp  Fire  Girls  were  first  revealed  to 
an  eager  audience  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  whole 
Board  in  1912. 

Many  local  Associations  and  one  Field  Committee 
followed  the  example  of  calling  a  secretary  for  the 
Girls'  Department.  In  four  years  the  membership 
has  increased  eighty  per  cent,  and  the  value  of  mem- 
bership even  more  greatly. 

In  1915  two  conferences  were  held  for  high  school 
girls  alone.  This  was  necessitated  by  the  rapidly  de- 
veloping student  movement  among  secondary  school 
girls  manifested  by  clubs,  branches  and  Associations 
under  city,  county  and  older  student  leadership.  In 
large  cities  where  there  are  several  high  schools, 
unions  of  these  clubs  have  been  effected  by  the  organ- 
ization of  High  School  Councils,  the  last  word  in 
younger  student  initiative. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  STRANGERS  WITHIN  OUR  GATES 

THE  first  immigrant  girl  in  whom  Americans 
as  a  whole  have  been  interested  was  Pris- 
cilla  Mullens,  whose  domestic  graces  and 
social  readiness  as  appreciated  by  John  Alden  and 
Captain  Miles  Standish  have  been  recorded  for  us  by 
Longfellow.  Girls  coming  over  the  border  from 
Canada  and  the  English  speaking  arrivals  of  the  mid- 
dle of  the  last  century  fitted  into  United  States 
conditions  almost  imperceptibly;  the  Germans  and 
Scandinavians  of  the  next  generation  also  went  with 
swift  steps  straight  into  domestic  occupations  in 
American  homes. 

When  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
folk  realized  that  to  the  difficulties  all  strangers  in  a 
strange  land  encountered,  these  newcomers  added  the 
handicap  of  ignorance  of  the  still  stranger  speech, 
they  attempted  English  classes  for  foreigners  in  many 
places.  These  were  usually  informal  Thursday  after- 
noon affairs.  The  girls  came  as  regularly  as  they 
could,  got  acquainted  with  each  other  and  their  volun- 
teer teachers,  learned  to  read  a  little,  tried  to  master 
the  English  consonant  combinations  and  ceased  the 
afternoon  with  a  little  fancy  work  and  coffee  drinking. 

300 


STRANGERS  WITHIN  OUR  GATES       301 

The  teachers,  for  the  most  part,  knew  little  of  phonet- 
ics or  of  Grimm's  law,  but  if  they  were  sympathetic 
the  pupils  made  headway  enough  to  merge  into  the 
regular  departments  of  the  whole  Association.  But 
this  took  many  years  and  only  a  few  went  unswerv- 
ingly on. 

All  America  began  to  think  more  about  the  for- 
eigners on  our  shores.  Christian  prophets  like  Ed- 
ward A.  Steiner  waked  up  the  churches;  the  Women's 
Home  Missionary  Societies  began  to  think  of  what  lay 
here  and  over  the  sea,  outside  Ellis  Island,  to  which 
they  had  largely  confined  themselves;  and  the  Na- 
tional Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions appointed  a  Committee  of  Research  and  Investi- 
gation. Then  there  appeared  in  December,  1910,  an 
open  door  on  Manhattan  Island  and  a  new  term  in  the 
Association  encyclopedia,  an  * '  International  Institute ' ' 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  Later 
this  removed  to  113  East  34th  Street.  Girls  released 
to  New  York  City  by  the  port  officials  were  called  upon 
a  few  days  after  they  arrived  by  a  visitor  speaking 
their  own  language,  explaining  to  them  the  ways  of 
working  and  going  about  and  living  in  this  new  part 
of  the  world.  Invitations  to  free  English  classes  for 
other  Finns  or  Italians  or  Syrians  were  accepted,  then 
came  acquaintance  and  friends  and  a  grasp  of  spiritual 
truth.  Trenton,  Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  and  Los 
Angeles  adopted  the  same  plan,  namely,  a  branch 
headquarters  accessible  for  foreign  people,  an  Ameri- 
can Immigration  secretary,  foreign  visitors,  teachers 
and  director  of  special  activities. 


302       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Back  of  this  are  efforts  to  connect  American  help- 
fulness to  the  organizations  in  the  old  home  lands; 
and  on  every  side  are  efforts  to  relate  the  new  Ameri- 
cans, as  soon  as  may  be,  to  the  best  institutions  and 
forces  in  the  land  they  chose  or  were  forced  to  adopt. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

GIRLS  IN   OTHER  COUNTRIES 

ALL  the  young  women  upon  the  globe  are  not 
claimed  by  the  United  States  of  America  in 
its  membership,  but  from  India,  China, 
Japan,  the  Argentine  and  Turkey,  they  have  asked  for 
American  leaders,  and  therefore  seem  to  stand  in  a 
closer  relation  to  us  than  do  young  women  of  other  na- 
tions working  independently  or  with  assistance  of 
other  secretaries  of  the  World's  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association. 

Before  there  was  any  thought  of  the  city  Associa- 
tion or  national  committees  or  secretaries,  mission- 
aries who  had  once  been  Association  workers  had  made 
use  of  the  Association  plan  of  members  and  officers 
and  committees  with  the  school  girls  they  were  teach- 
ing. ;Mrs.  Wishard  wrote  of  several  such  during  her 
early  work  tours,  and  The  Evangel  occasionally 
printed  messages  from  such  student  groups  in  Naga- 
saki (1889),  Hang  Chow  (1890)  and  Tung  Cho 
(1892).  That  they  were  truly  indigenous  and  not 
a  mere  projection  of  the  foreigners '  American  notions 
may  be  seen  from  incidental  extracts  of  this  corre- 
spondence. 

We  were  in  all  nineteen  members  in  it,  but  now  there 
are  thirteen — some  of  them  have  gone  to  their  homes  and 
303 


S04       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

some  were  married,  and  some  have  gone  to  learn  other 
things.  One  with  us  is  a  new  member.  She  was  baptized 
this  month  on  the  second  Sunday. 

We  must  pray  for  you  in  America:  we  know  that  is  a 
good  work  we  should  do.  Zech.  iv:6.  That  is  true  a  good 
motto,  also  we  have  written  it  on  the  blackboard.  Are  there 
any  girls  in  your  Association  who  have  studied  the  Holy 
Bible  from  Genesis  to  Malachi?  Our  first  class  has  studied 
and  been  examined  on  every  book. 

We  had  such  a  good  letter  in  English  from  Nagasaki  Japan 
School  Assistant.  They  told  us  the  Association  of  theirs  was 
organized  May,  1€89,  and  we  have  answered  to  them.  Miss 
Guinness  wrote  the  book,  "In  the  Far  East."  We  have  seen 
her.  She  lives  in  Honan,  China.  Last  year  in  the  June 
month  she  was  here  and  attended  our  Wednesday  evening 
prayer  meeting;  such  very  kind  words  to  exhort  us  in  the 
14th  chapter  of  St.  John.     She  is  a  very  lovely  lady. 

I  write  this  English  myself,  but  I  cannot  very  fast. 

Signed  by  a  Chinese  teacher. 

It  has  already  been  seen  how  India  came  into  con- 
tact with  America  through  calling  a  secretary  to  Ma- 
dras in  1894  who  became  national  traveling  secretary 
two  years  later,  which  was  about  twenty  years  after 
the  first  Indian  branches  had  come  into  existence. 
Miss  Maud  Orlebar  of  England  had  reached  Calcutta 
early  in  1894. 

Even  when  Agnes  Hill  was  succeeded  in  1908  by 
Ethel  Hunter  of  Scotland  as  national  secretary,  the 
American  bond  was  still  strong,  for  Miss  Hunter  got 
her  technical  preparation  at  the  Secretaries'  Train- 
ing Institute  in  Chicago  and  was  in  constant  com- 
munication with  the  United  States. 

It  sounds  like  the  most  ancient  of  ancient  history 
to  read  in  the  report  of  the  world's  conference  in 
1898: 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  SG5 

European  and  American  leaders  in  China  are  made  much 
of  and  their  presence  is  eagerly  desired  at  all  the  social 
occurrences.  They  would  confess  themselves  that  they  are 
encouraged  to  lead  very  empty  and  thoughtless  lives.  I 
venture  to  hope  that  our  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion with  its  Bible  reading  has  been  of  some  use  to  some  of 
them.  The  only  two  immarried  girls  in  the  place  joined  us. 
.  .  .  And  in  our  day  China  is  opening.  The  Chinese  young 
woman  in  her  soft  and  brilliant  dress,  with  her  broad  brows 
and  her  skilful  fingers,  is  about  to  step  upon  the  world's 
stage.  She  has  a  natural  love  for  going  about  and  seeing 
what  is  new.  She  would  travel  more  now  if  she  could  be 
sure  of  her  inn.  The  time  may  soon  come  when  the  Yotmg 
Women's  Christian  Association  home,  on  native  lines,  will 
be  added  to  our  missionary  agencies,  and  be  to  travelers 
what  at  present  our  boarding  schools  are  to  students. 

Nearly  a  score  of  years  passed  before  this  hope  was 
realized. 

When  the  honorary  secretary  of  the  Canton  Branch 
forwarded  this  account,  there  were  three  other  small 
branches  in  China,  likewise  of  English  speaking  ladies, 
in  Shanghai,  Foochow  and  Hong  Kong :  the  latter  was 
the  most  vigorous  and  had  formed  a  Chinese  branch 
of  forty  members. 

Foochow  was  supposed  to  be  the  first  place  where 
Chinese  women  students  started  their  own  Association 
by  formal  adoption  of  a  constitution.  This  was  in 
the  Methodist  School  and  Seminary  in  December, 
1898,  through  the  help  of  Mr.  Fletcher  S.  Brockman, 
national  secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations of  China.  This  little  band  of  girls  faith- 
fully kept  the  Morning  Watch  and  found  out  many 
ways  of  showing  Christ's  spirit  in  the  day  schools 
around  and  in  the  hospital. 


306       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

The  China  National  Committee  received  Miss  Ber- 
ninger  in  November,  1903,  and  after  a  year  which  she 
spent  in  language  study,  they  were  able  to  reorganize 
the  Shanghai  Association  and  open  a  house  on  the 
Yang  tze  poo  Road,  near  the  cotton  mills.  The  girls 
and  women  employed  there  in  western  processes  of 
manufacture  took  very  kindly  to  the  western  ideas  of 
Christian  friendliness  as  expressed  in  this  branch. 
Sometimes  more  than  four  hundred  visitors  dropped 
in  to  see  Miss  Berninger  during  an  ordinary  week  and 
once  during  the  first  sixteen  days  after  her  return 
from  vacation  she  made  1,088  callers  welcome.  In  the 
autumn  of  1905  A.  Estella  Paddock  arrived  as  the 
first  national  secretary. 

Miss  Reynolds  in  her  oriental  tour  of  1900  met  with 
the  pioneer  Association  of  Japan,  that  of  Yokohama, 
and  with  other  ladies  keen  on  calling  an  American 
secretary  for  work  among  the  girls  of  government 
schools,  alumnae  of  mission  schools  and  girls  in  fac- 
tories. An  experienced  American  secretary  replied, 
but  not  from  the  United  States.  A.  Caroline  Mac- 
Donald,  city  secretary  of  the  Dominion  Council  of 
Canada,  offered  to  go,  and  the  Canadian  Association 
with  a  generosity  amounting  to  sacrifice,  let  her  go 
out  in  1904  and  generously  supported  her  as  national 
secretary  of  a  sister  country.  Theresa  Morrison  was 
the  first  secretary  from  this  side  of  the  border.  She 
went  out  in  1903. 

Japan  is  rich  in  native  leaders;  Miss  Michi  Kawai 
is  the  Japanese  active  member  of  the  World's  Com- 
mittee and  Miss  Ume  Tsuda,  the  leading  woman  in 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  807 

the  Japanese  world  of  education,  is  president  of  the 
Tokyo  Association.  Both  were  college  students  in  the 
United  States.  Even  as  far  back  as  1907,  when 
women  from  other  oriental  lands  met  in  Tokyo  in  the 
eighth  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  Con- 
ference, they  recognized  that  the  national  work  would 
not  bear  the  hall  marks  of  Canada  or  the  United 
States  or  of  any  foreign  country,  but  would  be  dis- 
tinctly Japanese.    Action  and  reaction  are  equal. 

As  calendars  go,  it  was  half  way  between  the  Paris 
World's  Conference  in  June,  1906,  which  discussed 
with  utmost  elaboration  the  lines  for  demarcation  be- 
tween church  missions  and  missionaries  supported  by 
Christian  Associations,  and  the  extension  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  into  other 
lands,  and  the  organization  of  the  present  national 
movement  with  a  foreign  department  on  a  par  with  the 
home  work,  in  December,  1906,  that  the  first  Amer- 
ican secretary,  Emma  Jean  Batty,  took  her  departure 
for  South  America.  Like  all  American  secretaries, 
except  those  in  India,  she  was  confronted  by  a  new 
language,  but  the  first  months  were  occupied  with  re- 
organization of  the  Buenos  Aires  Association  for  Eng- 
lish speaking  girls,  which  dated  from  1890,  and 
search  for  a  central  building.  Six  tiny  rooms,  up  a 
flight  of  seventy-two  stairs,  were  used  as  a  boarding 
home,  where  seven  regular  members  of  the  family 
hospitably  made  room  for  frequent  transient  guests 
and  more  than  a  score  took  luncheon  daily,  and  in 
seasonable  weather  both  English  and  Spanish  speak- 
ing   girls    came    in    for    Bible    classes.     Exorbitant 


308       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

rents  have  always  made  finding  a  location  a  serious 
problem. 

From  the  United  States  the  pioneer  Association 
secretaries  went  out  to  Turkey  in  1913  as  the  pioneers 
had  gone  to  China  in  1903  and  to  South  America  in 
1906.  And  again  like  Miss  Berninger  in  Shanghai, 
Frances  Gage  had  once  been  a  missionary  in  Turkey 
in  Asia.  She  had  a  fine  background  of  language  and 
customs.  Anna  Welles,  appointed  to  student  work 
in  Constantinople  at  the  same  time,  had  been  for 
some  years  a  resident  of  Paris  and  an  active  force  in 
the  Student  Hostel. 

The  great  war  which  began  in  1914  not  only  cur- 
tailed the  usual  work  in  South  America  and  Turkey, 
but  called  out  the  Association  forces  into  necessary 
relief  measures.  New  opportunities  of  this  kind  have 
also  been  responded  to  by  the  Associations  in  India. 

Ten  newly  appointed  secretaries  went  out  in  1915, 
two  to  India,  one  to  Japan,  and  seven  to  China.  In 
these  three  countries  the  summer  conferences  have 
come  to  be  spiritual  power  stations  as  in  the  older  As- 
sociation lands. 

The  building  era  has  come  to  Japan  and  China  as 
to  India.  Through  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Japan 
National  Committee  and  the  Pacific  Coast  Field  Com- 
mittee, the  greater  part  of  the  money  needed  for  the 
Tokyo  Building  has  been  secured  and  the  building 
was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1915. 

In  Shanghai  arrangements  have  been  made  with  the 
Southern  Methodist  Mission  for  land  and  buildings 
which  enabled  the  national  and  local  work  to  take  ad- 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  S09 

vance  steps  such  as  the  organization  of  a  Physical 
Training  School  for  Chinese  women,  which  opened 
October,  1915.  For  this  the  Director  of  Physical  Ed- 
ucation for  Women  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
Abby  Shaw  Mayhew,  had  gone  out  in  1912,  and  Ying 
Mei  Chun  had  returned  in  1913  after  thorough  pro- 
fessional preparation  in  the  United  States.  Secre- 
tarial residences  in  Canton  and  Foochow  had  also 
been  provided. 

Foreign  Associations  seem  much  more  a  part  of  the 
American  sisterhood  than  they  could  otherwise  seem 
even  with  secretaries  going  out  and  returning  on  fur- 
lough, because  students  from  Oriental,  Latin  Amer- 
ican and  other  foreign  countries  are  studying  in 
colleges,  universities,  preparatory  and  professional 
schools  all  over  the  United  States.  They  are  members 
of  student  Associations  and  guests  at  summer  confer- 
ences as  well  as  at  special  functions  which  Mrs.  Helen 
Gould  Shepard  and  other  members  of  the  foreign  de- 
partment have  arranged. 

That  summer  of  1900,  when  one  picked  up  the 
morning  paper  with  reluctance,  fearing  to  see  that 
still  more  missionaries  had  been  borne  down  by  the 
fury  of  the  anti-foreign  outbreak  in  China,  that  sum- 
mer when  Christians,  wherever  gathered,  in  church  or 
camp,  almost  sought  to  dictate  to  God  for  a  speedy 
end  to  the  struggle,  brought  forth  a  harvest  in  the 
fall  of  1914,  which  would  never  have  been  dreamed 
of  in  those  days  of  weeping — ^twelve  Chinese  girls  ar- 
rived in  the  party  of  students  sent  to  this  country  by 
their  government  for  education  in  different  subjects. 


810       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

And  the  money  to  be  drawn  upon  for  ten  of  these 
bursaries  was  the  indemnity  fund  granted  by  China 
to  the  United  States  for  those  losses  in  1900  and  re- 
turned by  our  government  to  the  Chinese  treasury. 
In  these  years  the  Young  Women 's  Christian  Associa- 
tion has  so  fitted  in  among  things  Chinese  that  it  was 
the  China  National  Committee  which  was  entrusted 
with  administering  the  examinations  and  arranging 
the  departures,  and  the  National  Board  of  the  United 
States  which  received  them  here  at  the  Training 
School  building,  telegraphed  about  admission  to  the 
desired  schools,  and  stood  by  during  the  students'  in- 
evitable fall  shopping.  Best  of  all  since  the  Associa- 
tion is  only  a  department  of  the  church,  it  was  learned 
that  ten  of  these  students  had  come  from  mission 
schools,  that  all  the  indemnity  students  were  Chris- 
tians, and  two  of  them  were  pastors'  daughters. 

Still  other  countries  turn  their  eyes  to  America 
when  seeking  executive  officers.  In  the  British  Amer- 
ican Association  established  in  Paris  in  1904,  under 
the  inspiration  of  Mrs.  Grace  Whitney  Evans  Hoff, 
first  president  of  the  Detroit  Association,  the  staff  has 
been  almost  continuously  made  up  of  Americans  at 
the  main  building,  long  known  at  No.  5  Rue  de  Turin, 
and  at  the  Paris  Student  Hostel  which  has  been,  since 
1906,  the  shadow  of  a  rock  in  a  weary  land  to  women 
studying  under  the  faculties  of  the  Universities  and 
those  others  who  knew  neither  where  to  look  for  tui- 
tion nor  abiding  place.  Through  the  World's  Stu- 
dent Christian  Federation  certain  American  secre- 
taries or  volunteer  workers  studying  abroad  have  co- 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  311 

operated  with  continental  women  students  in  univer- 
sity advance  steps. 

Even  before  Australasia  had  any  regular  national 
confederation,  Adelaide  called  an  American  secretary, 
Esther  L.  Anderson,  who  went  out  in  1907,  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  1911  by  Helen  F.  Barnes  as  secretary  of  the 
National  Association  formed  four  years  previous. 

From  all  the  five  countries  where  the  American 
foreign  department  has  sent  out  secretaries,  students 
have  come  to  the  Training  School,  and  from  Canada, 
France,  Eussia,  South  Africa,  Finland,  Norway, 
Switzerland,  and  Great  Britain  students  have  come 
also,  for  observation  and  training.  They  aim  not  to 
transplant  but  to  select  some  of  the  ideas  for  grafting 
into  either  older  or  younger  Association  growths. 

In  thinking  of  the  World's  Association  which  bands 
all  these  lands  together,  one  notices  how  stages  of 
progress  are  marked  unconsciously  by  the  successive 
World's  Conferences.  The  first  met  in  London  from 
June  14  to  18,  1898,  at  the  invitation  of  the  World's 
Executive  Committee,  it  is  true,  but  in  a  way  it  was 
the  British  Association  asking  their  sisters  to  visit 
them,  since  hospitality  was  offered  in  private  homes 
for  some  days  before  and  after  the  conference  proper ; 
204  of  the  registered  delegates  were  from  Great  Brit- 
ain, the  other  192  came,  nineteen  from  India,  four- 
teen from  the  United  States,  thirteen  from  Sweden, 
five  from  Italy,  three  from  Canada,  one  from  Nor- 
way— these  were  the  seven  regularly  aifiliated  coun- 
tries— and  one  or  more  from  each  of  eleven  additional 
continental  and  extra  European  lands;  and  all  the 


312       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

program  sessions  were  in  English,  although  in  the 
business  meetings  there  was  much  informal  translat- 
ing by  the  presiding  officers,  and  in  the  devotional 
meetings  there  were  prayers  in  many  tongues  that 
helped  to  make  Pentecost  and  the  Whitsuntide  season 
very  real.  The  English  ladies  realized  the  diversity 
of  administration  with  such  delicacy  that  the  com- 
munion service  was  not  a  stated  part  of  the  program, 
but  was  held  the  morning  after  adjournment  lest  any 
might  fear  they  had  been  forced  to  accept  the  ritual 
of  an  alien  state  church. 

It  was  in  a  way  a  retrospective  conference,  for  few 
of  the  1898  delegates  had  been  in  that  little  group 
which  in  1892  had  decided  that  the  time  was  ripe  to 
effect  world  federation.  Still  smaller  was  the  group 
to  which  the  drafting  of  the  constitution  had  been  re- 
ferred. And  even  in  those  countries  (four  at  the 
outset,  three  in  the  next  four  years),  which  had  legally 
adopted  the  proposed  constitution  through  action  of 
conventions  or  executive  committees,  the  members  at 
large  were  not  very  familiar  with  the  scheme,  and 
much  explanation  of  that  action  was  sought  and  was 
graciously  and  patiently  given.  Another  link  with 
the  past  was  the  reception  at  Exeter  Hall  tendered  by 
Sir  George  Williams,  the  founder  of  the  whole  Chris- 
tian Association  movement,  upon  whom  Queen  Vic- 
toria had  conferred  knighthood  in  1894  when  the  par- 
ent London  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  cele- 
brated its  Jubilee  by  entertaining  the  World's  Con- 
ference at  the  British  capital. 

Yet   the   deliberations   were    all    constructive.    It 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  313 

would  hardly  seem,  looking  back  to  the  morning  when 
the  constitution  was  adopted,  that  any  delegates 
would  object  to  the  first  Article:  ''Name,  This  or- 
ganization shall  be  called  the  World's  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association,"  but  one  delegate  rose  to 
protest  on  the  grounds  that  Christians  are  to  flee  from 
the  World,  the  Flesh  and  the  Devil.  But  she  was 
fully  content  when  reminded  that  *'God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son." 

The  recommendation  of  an  International  Week  of 
Prayer  brought  most  keenly  to  mind  the  geographical 
differences  of  Northern  and  Southern  hemispheres, 
which  must  be  observed  even  when  people's  hearts  are 
all  at  one.  October  was  proposed,  then  November. 
This  was  satisfactory  except  to  South  India,  which 
would  be  in  the  monsoon  then.  But  India's  large 
delegation  undertook  to  bear  with  this  inconvenience 
and  the  date,  which  has  never  been  changed,  was 
agreed  upon.  The  designs  for  a  world's  badge  were 
also  presented  then  and  every  one  knows  the  incident 
relative  to  the  language  of  the  inscription.  Around 
the  circle  of  the  globe  the  world's  motto  was  to  be 
printed.  But  in  what  language?  Should  it  be  a 
separate  tongue  for  every  country?  That  would  not 
be  a  uniform  universal  badge,  A  Scotch  mind, 
trained  to  philosophical  niceties,  suggested  printing 
the  motto  in  the  original  Hebrew  of  Zechariah  iv,  6, 
and  each  wondered  that  she  herself  had  not  hit  upon 
so  happy  a  solution. 

One  cannot  forget  the  social  meetings:  that  at  the 
heart  of  London,  the  Mansion  House,  when  the  Lord 


814       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Mayor  and  Lady  Mayoress  received  the  delegates  in 
pomp  and  circumstance,  and  as  soon  as  seats  were 
taken  for  the  program,  an  honorable  attendant  lifted 
the  mighty  gold  chain  of  office  from  the  mayor 's  neck 
and  he  listened  with  the  others  to  the  remarkable  ad- 
dress of  Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  and  to  the  other  speakers  of 
the  evening;  that  at  the  heart  of  England,  when  by 
train  and  char-a-hancs  we  journeyed  to  a  glorious 
country  estate  and  then  sat  under  the  shade  of  a  cen- 
tury old  tree  to  listen  to  a  Bible  reading  by  one  of 
the  hosts;  that  at  the  heart  of  the  British  Empire, 
when  we  were  received  by  royalty  in  the  Dean's  Gar- 
den at  Windsor  and  stood  at  divine  service  in  St. 
George's  chapel,  and  walked  through  state  apartments 
and  listened  to  a  message  sent  from  Victoria,  Queen 
of  England  and  Empress  of  India. 

And  now  came  Stockholm,  1914.  Again  there  was 
royal  recognition.  Again  there  were  delightful  ex- 
cursions, but  here  there  were  only  325  from  the  en- 
tertaining country  in  proportion  to  463  from  twenty- 
two  other  countries.  Each  of  the  eighteen  national 
Associations  was  represented,  several  of  them  far  be- 
yond voting  capacity,  but  the  members  were  welcomed 
as  visiting  delegates.  The  program  was  as  interna- 
tional as  the  delegations.  Sweden  generously  permit- 
ted the  use  of  French,  German,  and  English  as  the 
official  languages  and  was  content  to  have  only  the 
public  addresses  interpreted  into  Swedish.  There  was 
a  union  Communion  service  on  Sunday,  and  whereas 
in  the  immediately  preceding  conferences  the  sacra- 


Clarissa  H.  Spencer, 
General  Secretary  of  the  World's  Committee 


GIRLS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES  315 

ment  had  been  offered  by  clergy  of  three  church  bod- 
ies, that  delegates  might  receive  it  each  after  her  own 
custom,  this  time  all  partook  together  of  the  com- 
munion after  the  Lutheran  order,  as  administered 
by  clergymen  of  the  Swedish  National  Church,  and 
all  the  children  of  the  Heavenly  Father  were  together 
in  their  Father's  house  and  at  His  table.  Previous 
conferences  had  discussed  matters  of  organization. 
The  Stockholm  Conference  dwelt,  it  is  true,  with  ad- 
justments that  come  from  growth  and  national  ex- 
pansion, but  the  conference  theme  reduced  the  organ- 
ization to  the  place  of  a  necessary  intermediary.  This 
theme  was  stated  as,  **The  Unfolding  of  the  True 
Plan  for  Woman  in  God's  Purpose  for  the  World." 
There  was  appeal  made  for  public  service,  for  Chris- 
tian women  to  take  their  due  share  of  the  municipal 
work  of  their  nations,  but  the  supreme  obligation 
laid  upon  the  women  assembled  in  that  conference 
was  the  winning  of  the  individual  soul  for  the  King- 
dom of  God.  About  800  delegates  represented  about 
670,000  members  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  a 
beginning. 

One  sentence  phrased  by  Dr.  A.  Johnston  Ross 
stands  ever  as  an  explanation  of  the  close  relation  de- 
sired between  the  girls  and  women  in  other  lands  and 
the  members  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ations of  the  United  States  of  America. 

It  is  only  when  that  mystical  collectivism  of  the  East, 
and  the  individualism  of  the  West,  and  the  strenuous  gravity 
of  the  North  and  the  tender  passion  of  the  South,  have  all 
been  brought  in  together  to  study  the  mind  of  Jesus,  that 
we  shall  be  able  to  understand  what  God  has  given  us  in 
Him. 


w 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  SECRETARIES 

^^^  "Y  T-^^  ^^  y^^  ^^y  'secretaries'?"  is  a  ques- 
tion repeatedly  asked  by  people  un- 
familiar with  Association  traditions. 
That  was  the  title  used  in  calling  the  first  person  to 
spend  his  whole  time  in  Christian  Association  work 
and  receive  a  salary  for  his  services. 

George  Williams  and  his  colleagues  could  awaken 
interest  in  personal  Christianity  among  the  young 
men  in  their  own  drapery  establishments,  they  could 
project  plans  outside,  they  could  make  their  Sun- 
days the  longest  working  days  of  the  week,  but  when 
by  1845  the  Hitchcock-Rogers  example  had  been  fol- 
lowed in  all  parts  of  London  and  fourteen  business 
houses  had  branches,  there  must  be  a  man  free  to  go 
about,  to  execute  as  well  as  to  devise  plans,  to  look 
after  affairs  on  week  days  as  well  as  Sundays. 

J.  H.  Tarlton,  a  city  missionary  who  had  been  con- 
ducting morning  worship  for  the  employes  of  Hitch- 
cock-Rogers, seemed  suitable  as  this  salaried  organiz- 
ing secretary  or  missionary,  and  he  was  asked 

To  act  as  assistant  secretary,  to  attend  all  general  meet- 
ings of  the  Association,  to  assist  in  conducting  services  in 
houses  when  they  want  help;   to  establish  and  render  as 
efficient  as  possible  district  Associations;  to  form  by  cora- 
316 


THE  SECRETARIES  317 

municating  with  Christian  young  men  in  the  large  towns 
and  cities  of  the  Kingdom,  branch  Associations  (it  may 
sometimes  be  necessary  that  he  should  visit  young  men  in 
illness)  ;  and  make  himself  generally  useful  among  the  class 
to  which  his  efforts  will  be  directed,  by  pointing  them  to 
"the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world." 

He  was  evidently  a  secretary,  a  unifying  force,  a  chap- 
lain, an  organizer,  a  friend  to  young  men,  a  general 
factotum  and  an  evangelist.  His  sphere  was  not  only 
London  but  any  part  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Mr. 
Williams  is  said  to  have  supplied  most  of  the  ideas 
and  much  of  the  enthusiasm  while  Mr.  Tarlton  car- 
ried them  into  effect  so  he  was  evidently  an  adminis- 
trator also.  Little  is  said  about  his  duties  as  host, 
and  as  the  London  Association  was  housed  its  first 
five  years  in  a  room  in  a  hotel,  those  were  probably 
so  incidental  that  no  one  considered  them  worthy  of 
mention. 

But  in  America  the  woman  secretary  was  first  of 
all  a  hostess,  even  though  like  Mary  Foster  in  Boston 
in  1866,  the  realm  over  which  she  presided  was  only 
two  rented  rooms.  Many  of  the  employed  officers 
elsewhere  in  early  years  were  happy  to  welcome  girls 
to  the  one  room  which  for  utility  eclipsed  the  cottage 
furniture  which  Goldsmith  says  **  contrived  a  double 
debt  to  pay, ' '  for  this  one  room,  bounded  on  the  north 
by  a  desk,  on  the  east  by  a  piano,  on  the  south  by  a 
gas  stove,  and  on  the  west  by  a  reading  table,  was 
office,  employment  bureau,  audience  room,  noon  rest 
parlor  and  library,  all  in  one.  When  the  boarding 
home  was  the  dominant  feature,  the  superintendent 


318       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

of  the  home  was  also  manager  of  the  employment 
bureau  and  organizer  of  other  departments  of  work. 
The  records  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Branch  of  the  La- 
dies' Christian  Association  show  that  Mrs.  M.  C. 
Uhler,  the  clergyman's  widow  who  was  their  first  sec- 
retary, received  $50  per  month.  This  was  a  maxi- 
mum wage  for  a  long  period  for  positions  where  no 
living  was  provided. 

Traveling  secretaries  from  1886  on  were  evangel- 
ists, advisers,  correspondents,  organizers,  too,  though 
curiously  enough  Nettie  Dunn,  the  pioneer  traveling 
secretary,  organized  no  Associations  whatever  during 
her  first  year  of  office.  Visitation  claimed  all  her 
time.  Most  of  the  state  workers'  visits  were  made  to 
colleges  and  the  secretary  was  paid  a  small  salary 
and  expenses  of  board,  whenever  hospitality  was  not 
oifered. 

At  the  first  national  convention  at  Lake  Geneva,  in 
1886,  there  were  no  secretaries  present,  because  there 
was  none  in  the  movement  at  that  time.  Three  years 
later  nine  of  the  seventy-four  delegates  to  the  second 
national  convention  in  Bloomington  were  secretaries, 
one  national,  four  state,  three  local  city.  They  found 
time  for  a  little  conference  together  before  the  con- 
vention began,  for  it  has  always  been  recognized  that 
the  distinction  between  volunteer  and  professional 
work  is  genuine.  The  volunteer  worker  selects  the 
task  for  which  she  is  naturally  fitted,  and  stays  by  it 
as  long  and  does  as  much  or  as  little  as  devotion  and 
circumstances  and  other  claims  allow.  Her  service 
may  strike  any  note  of  the  Association  scale.    The 


THE  SECRETARIES  319 

professional  worker  is  held  to  a  standard,  the  Associa- 
tion is  her  ranking  claim,  and  she  binds  the  separate 
notes  into  a  harmonious  chord. 

Every  national  Convention  since  then  and  many 
state  meetings  have  been  made  the  opportunity  for 
formal  or  informal  discussion  of  the  problems  for 
which  these  women  had  made  themselves  responsible 
in  becoming  salaried  workers  in  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations. 

After  the  organization  Convention  of  1906  there 
remained  for  a  three  days'  conference  at  the  Park 
Avenue  Hotel,  New  York  City,  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  superintendents,  secretaries,  clerks,  and  di- 
rectors of  departments,  for  three  days  of  acquaintance 
and  inspiration.  Miss  Dodge  explained  what  *' Coop- 
eration of  the  Secretaries  in  the  Development  of  the 
New  Movement"  would  mean,  and  there  were  other 
speakers. 

The  Minneapolis  meeting  of  secretaries  following 
the  second  national  Convention  claims  to  have 
started  the  immediate  advance  in  girls'  work  through 
the  powerful  addresses  delivered  on  these  topics.  The 
Importance  of  the  Study  of  Adolescence,  How  a  Girl's 
Early  Belief  May  Be  Developed  Through  the  Student 
Association  into  Mature  Christian  Faith,  The  Girl 
in  the  City  High  School,  in  the  Private  School,  in  the 
Small  Town  High  School,  The  Cooperation  of  City 
and  Student  Associations  in  Developing  and  Training 
Individual  Girls,  What  Has  Led  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  to  Inaugurate  Its  Present  Work 
for  Boys.    At  this  conference  also  the  beginnings  of 


320       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

county  work  were  made  the  basis  of  a  morning  pro- 
gram as  suggestive  as  it  was  absorbing. 

How  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Can  Meet  the  Appeal  of  the  Times  in  Its  Secretarial 
Work  was  the  theme  of  the  Indianapolis  Secretaries' 
Conference  of  1911,  following  the  third  national  Con- 
vention, and  the  theme  was  treated  through  commis- 
sions on  city  and  student  problems  which  sent  out 
their  findings  to  members  in  advance,  so  that  discus- 
sion could  be  instant  and  intelligent.  The  debate  of 
five  years  concerning  the  name  of  this  body  was  set- 
tled in  favor  of  the  progressives  when  the  constitu- 
tion was  adopted. 

The  name  of  this  Association  shall  be  the  Association  of 
Employed  Officers  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations of  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  object  shall  be  study  and  conference  concerning  the 
questions  that  affect  the  efficiency  of  the  salaried  staff  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 

Thus  this  gatliering  of  three  hundred  members  de- 
cided to  enlarge  the  terminology  so  as  to  describe  the 
whole  staff,  not  only  that  section  known  as  secretaries. 
The  link  between  the  United  States  and  other  coun- 
tries was  seen  in  the  constitution's  provision  that  em- 
ployed officers  trained  in  America,  as  well  as  outgoing 
workers,  could  be  active  members  while  serving  As- 
sociations affiliated  with  the  World's  Association. 

The  importance  of  the  technical  department  was 
seen  by  provision  for  sectional  organization  when  the 
department  directors  desiring  such  a  branch  consti- 
tute one-tenth  of  the  paid  up  membership.    Under 


THE  SECRETARIES  321 

this  provision  the  directors  of  physical  education  at 
once  formed  a  department  organization. 

O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  ithers  see  us! 
It  wad  frae  monie  a  blunder  free  us, 
and  foolish  notion! 

This  was  the  theme  of  the  Richmond  Conference 
of  Employed  Officers  in  1913,  and  Church,  Social  Serv- 
ice and  Student  criticisms  were  presented.  But  the 
consciousness  of  helpless  ignorance  on  the  questions 
considered  by  the  Commission  on  Social  Morality  had 
led  the  Committee  to  invite  Dr.  Richard  C.  Cabot  to 
offer  a  course  of  three  lectures  on  The  Consecration 
of  Affections.  The  sessions  of  the  conference  are  al- 
ways closed  and  the  verbatim  reports  are  circulated 
only  among  members,  but  the  addresses  by  Dr.  Cabot 
could  not  be  churlishly  kept  by  the  five  hundred  mem- 
bers of  the  Employed  Officers'  Association.  The  Na- 
tional Board  printed  them  in  a  small  book,  *'The 
Christian  Approach  to  Social  Morality"  and  in  Dr. 
Cabot's  larger  book,  ''What  Men  Live  By,"  the  ideas 
which  set  the  workers  at  Richmond  to  thinking  those 
April  days,  have  now  become  current  throughout  the 
reading  world. 

Asilomar  was  the  scene  of  the  next  conference.  A 
Commission  on  the  Secretary's  Efficiency  reported  on 
the  physical,  intellectual,  social,  professional,  spir- 
itual and  economic  aspects  of  the  question.  Una 
Saunders,  executive  of  the  Dominion  Council  of  Can- 
ada, gave  a  series  of  addresses  on  The  Woman  Move- 
ment, Mabel  Cratty,  another  series  on  Women  Work- 


322       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

ing  Together,  and  Anna  V.  Rice  two  talks  on  the  Re- 
ligious Trend  of  the  Times.  Michi  Kawai  spoke 
Sunday  morning  when  the  auditorium  was  dedicated. 
The  beauty,  retirement  and  sense  of  proprietorship  at 
Asilomar  made  for  a  poise  of  mind  suitable  for  reflec- 
tion and  decision.  These  recommendations  were 
adopted. 

In  the  light  of  what  we  have  heard  these  last  two  days, 
we  who  are  present  realize  afresh  the  claims  of  the  King- 
dom of  God.  We  recognize  that  the  mere  passive  accept- 
ance of  these  claims  is  not  adequate,  but  that  day  by  day 
and  year  by  year  we  must  face  the  issues  involved  in  making 
the  Kingdom  of  God  a  reality,  and  having  faced  these,  de- 
termine our  course  and  act. 

Our  committee  would  therefore  urge:  That  we  here  as- 
sembled dedicate  again  our  lives  to  the  bringing  in  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  cost  what  it  may,  and  that  we  endeavor, 
through  the  power  and  might  that  come  from  Bible  study, 
and  the  knowledge  that  comes  from  reading  and  discussion, 
and  the  daily  practice  of  meeting  the  moral  challenge  which 
is  never  absent  from  responsibility,  to  make  ourselves  fit 
leaders  of  women. 

That  other  employed  officers  aside  from  secretaries 
are  recognized  as  practising  their  professions  within 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  is  evi- 
denced by  the  system  of  training  of  the  National 
Board.  As  soon  as  the  preparatory  Training  Centers 
had  been  well  set  up  and  the  second  class  graduated 
from  the  National  Training  School,  a  study  was  made 
of  Association  education  for  physical  directors  and 
a  six  weeks'  summer  course  planned  for  1911  in  con- 
nection with  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University, 
which  put  a  physical  director  of  both  Association  and 
academic  experience,  Abby  Shaw  Mayhew,  in  their 


Mabel  Cratty, 
General  Secretary  of  the  National  Board 


THE  SECRETARIES  323 

regular  summer  faculty.  To  this  summer  school  was 
transferred  from  the  Field  Committees  the  prepara- 
tory work  for  student  secretaries.  A  Training  Cen- 
ter course  for  secretaries  in  city  colored  branches  was 
also  introduced,  since  most  of  the  candidates  were 
teachers  and  could  not  make  use  of  the  Training  Cen- 
ters conducted  during  the  school  year.  The  plans  for 
1912  were  much  the  same. 

But  in  1913  the  National  Training  School  had 
moved  into  its  magnificent  new  building  where  more 
serious  academic  work  could  be  undertaken  in  the 
summer  school.  An  independent  faculty  was  made 
up  of  professors  and  instructors  from  recognized 
schools  of  physical  education,  who  gave  both  theoret- 
ical and  practical  courses  of  study.  An  even  larger 
group  of  salaried  officers  were  the  superintendents 
and  matrons  of  Association  residences  and  lunchroom 
and  cafeteria  directors,  hence  a  short  advanced  course 
of  four  weeks  in  Household  Economics  was  added  to 
the  other  three  departments  in  1914.  The  season  of 
1915  followed  the  same  divisions. 

In  the  meantime  women  who  had  been  on  local 
supervisory  staffs  from  one  to  twenty-two  years,  and 
scores  of  women  tested  through  other  experience,  had 
been  enriching  their  lives  through  the  full  academic 
year  of  the  regular  graduate  National  Training  School 
course.  The  United  States  has  never  usurped  inter- 
national rights,  but  owing  to  the  commonly  accepted 
business  and  professional  status  of  women  in  America 
and  the  recognition  of  salaried  employment  in  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  as  a  profes- 


324.       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

sion  ranking  with  teaching  and  the  newer  forms  of 
social  service,  technical  training  was  more  advanced 
here  than  in  any  other  country,  not  even  excepting 
England,  where  the  location  of  the  World's  Head- 
quarters would  make  an  international  school  most  con- 
venient. 

Because  of  its  graduate  character  in  relation  to  the 
preparatory  Training  Centers  the  National  Training 
School  does  not  emphasize  practical  work.  Its  aca- 
demic course  and  the  observation  of  and  general  par- 
ticipation in  Association  activities  are  sufficient  to  fill 
a  student's  time  in  New  York  and  the  vicinity. 

The  five  semesters  in  Gramercy  Park  before  it  was 
announced  that  the  Training  School  was  to  be  given 
a  new  home,  were  long  enough  to  teach  very  forcibly 
the  requirements  for  a  model  building.  The  school 
must  be  residential,  there  must  be  reception  rooms,  and 
offices,  library,  large  and  small  lecture  rooms,  sem- 
inar room,  there  must  be  single  rooms  for  students, 
accommodation  for  faculty  and  administration  staff, 
a  common  living  room,  a  dining  room  large  enough 
for  the  occupants  of  all  bedrooms  and  for  additional 
guests,  and  amid  all  other  considerations  in  construc- 
tion and  equipment,  the  health  and  safety  of  the  fam- 
ily must  be  kept  in  mind.  All  this  and  more,  too,  was 
granted  in  the  eleven  story  headquarters  building,  in 
its  new  quarters  at  135  East  52nd  Street,  New  York 
City,  in  which  the  fifth  academic  year  opened  Septem- 
ber, 1912. 

The  endowment  which  every  college  has  learned  to 
expect  is  yet  to  be  provided.     Two  small  bequests  to 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^T^p          ^Bf 

^^^^^^^^^KiF*~ ^MSKb^ 

flP^^^tal^L^^^^^^H 

1^^       ^BBLji 

!:^"'^S 

^^^^^^^■■^^ ..MMig^  "a^T"^* 

"^^^.^       ^^^H^^HB 

^^^^^^^^^^^^1^..       jr    S^^k* 

^^J 

lEtj 

THE  SECRETARIES  325 

The  American  Committee  transferred  to  the  National 
Board  were  at  once  appropriated  toward  the  support 
of  this  professional  school,  and  one  handsome  gift  was 
made  to  the  library  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  Wilbur 
Messer  of  Chicago. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

A  PROPHET   AMONG   WOMEN 

AN  institution  is  distressed  by  change;  it  fears 
disturbance  and  disintegration.  A  movement 
craves  change;  in  this  way  it  will  attain  to 
progress  and  achievement.  Miss  Dodge  had  repeat- 
edly said  that  she  would  continue  as  President  of  the 
National  Board  not  longer  than  a  ten  years'  term,  but 
her  co-workers  refused  to  listen.  Her  power  of  close 
observation  was  exceeded  only  by  her  power  of  a  long 
look  ahead.  Everybody  had  confidence  that  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United 
States  would  be  moving,  and  moving  in  the  right  di- 
rection, so  long  as  she  was  president.  But  a  higher 
form  of  confidence  yet  was  to  be  revealed  by  the  Amer- 
ican Association  members;  it  was  faith  to  continue 
building  on  the  foundation  she  had  laid. 

December  of  1914  at  headquarters  was  full  of  plans 
for  the  coming  Convention  in  Los  Angeles  in  1915, 
and  with  preparations  for  the  Panama-Pacific  Ex- 
position. Miss  Dodge  had  attended  all  the  Conven- 
tions—New York,  1906,  St.  Paul,  1909,  Indianapolis, 
1911,  Richmond,  1913,  and  was  planning  for  the  Cal- 
ifornia journey,  making  Association  visits  en  route. 
She  presided  at  the  December  board  meeting ;  she  met 

326 


Deceober  16,  1914 


Uy  dear  Miss  Thoburn: 

It  l8  &  pleasure  tc  think  that  we  aure  co-vorkers 
and  I  feel  very  cloee  to  my  friends  these  days.  It  is  near 
the  close  of  the  year,  the  eighth  of  our  new  Association  move* 
ment.    As  we  ai-e  entering  into  a  new  year,  and  the  one  ^en 
we  are  to  have  a  Conveniicn,  I  want  to  write  to  all  of  you 
vho  are  partners  with  me  in  our  work.   We  are  national  and 
have  to  consider  those  who  work  in  the  North,  South,  East 
end  West;  the  girls  in  industry,  the  city  girl,  the  country, 
the  student,  end  the  girls  in  other  countries  as  well  as  the 
strangers  within  our  gates.  Will  you  not  write  me  your  view 
of  our  organization,  and  how  we  can  improve  it?   I  know  so 
well  the  red  tapism  which  we  feel  hampers  us  in  our  work,  and 
how  easy  it  would  seem  to  us  to  work  alone  and  to  have  things 
Just  as  vre  wish.  I  have  felt  this  so  often,  and  yet  could 
we  grow  all  over  the  country  as  we  have  grown  without  organi- 
sation or  red  tapism?    I  would  like  you  to  send  me  con- 
structive criticism  -  any  plan  you  would  prefer  to  the  one 
we  have  appoint ea.  I  would  like  the  criticism  in  writing. 
We  may  not  be  able  to  adopt  all  the  ideas  but  I  would  like  as 
your  leader  to  have  your  views  and  then  I  will  want  to  confer 
with  certain  personally.  As  I  say,  we  are  co-laborers  and 
you  and  I  should  freely  talk  things  over.  I  cod  sorry  I  have 
other  interests  so  cannot  give  the  National  Board  all  my  time. 
I  want  1915  to  be  a  good  year  of  growth  and  development.  With 
freedom  guarded  by  organization  and  God's  great  help,  we  should 
do  much  during  the  coming  year.    I  hope  that  a  very  happy 
New  Year  will  come  to  you  all  and  that  the  spirit  of  peace  and 
good  will  may  be  in  our  midst  as  it  has  been  so  wonderfully  in 
the  past.   Please  feel  me  your  friend  and  companion  in  all 
the  work. 

7aithfully  yours. 


■^^tdUc4f.S^i^ 


President. 

Letter  Sent  by  Miss  Dodge  to  All  the  National 
Board  Staff 


A  PROPHET  AMONG  WOMEN  327 

with  the  staff  the  next  day;  she  went  to  Boston  for 
the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Constantino- 
ple College,  of  which  she  was  president.  On  the  22nd 
of  December  she  led  the  Christmas  service  in  the  as- 
sembly room  at  Headquarters,  reading  with  her  posi- 
tive glad  emphasis,  * '  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace 
I  give  unto  you ;  let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither 
let  it  be  afraid.  He  that  believeth  shall  not  make 
haste.  Rest  and  be  still.''  **A  wonderful  Christmas 
to  you,  my  friends,''  was  her  farewell  word.  Christ- 
mas fell  on  Friday  that  year  and  the  next  afternoon 
there  was  at  her  home  one  of  the  beautiful  Christmas 
parties  of  Oriental  students  whom  she  loved  to  en- 
tertain. But  she  was  unable  to  come  downstairs  to 
greet  her  guests. 

The  next  morning,  Sunday,  December  27,  she  was 
not,  for  God  took  her. 

When  her  hand  was  lifted,  knowledge  of  the  multi- 
fold activities  of  her  busy  years  began  to  flood  in. 
Such  knowledge  she  had  always  suppressed  and  many 
of  the  daily  papers  searched  their  files  almost  in  vain 
for  printed  announcement  of  her  deeds  or  her  bene- 
factions. But  friends  in  every  station  in  life  con- 
tributed to  make  up  the  record  which  places  her  as 
a  formative  power  second  to  no  woman  of  this  period 
except  Florence  Nightingale.  She  was  a  constructive 
pioneer  in  education  for  practical  life.  She  initiated 
cooperation  in  social  work;  she  led  in  the  protection 
of  women,  and  she  introduced  a  Christian  statesman- 
ship that  works  through  college  women  in  all  lands 
for  a  society  in  which  educated  women  must  take  a 


328       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

place  unconceived  by  any  previous  generation. 
''Probably  no  other  woman  in  history  has  done  so 
much  for  the  direct  uplift  of  young  girls — always 
reaching  out  for  the  young  girl/'  Thus  spoke  a  wise 
Christian  woman  of  four  score  years  when  she  heard 
of  her  death. 

The  National  Board  had  lost  only  one  other  member 
by  death,  Mrs.  Malcolm  D.  Whitman,  who  died  in 
December,  1909.  As  Janet  McCook  she  was  made  a 
charter  member  of  the  Board  when  she  was  only 
twenty-four,  but  she  embodied  the  four-fold  ideal  as 
few  had  ever  done,  through  her  beauty  and  vitality, 
her  mental  vigor,  her  personal  charm,  and  the  spirit- 
ual vision  illuminated  by  obedience.  Her  Bible 
classes  of  her  own  friends  in  her  own  drawing-room, 
of  the  Barnard  College  Christian  Association  in  her 
own  Alma  Mater,  of  groups  of  younger  girls  in  New 
York  City,  and  at  Silver  Bay  Conferences,  were  re- 
nowned. The  fruit  of  these  classes  was  shown  when 
one  new  phase  of  Association  work  after  another  was 
started  in  New  York  City  by  people  to  whom  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  was  totally  un- 
known or  hopelessly  unappealing  until  she  revealed 
its  scope  and  possibilities. 

As  Mrs.  Marshall  0.  Roberts  was  first  directress  of 
the  Ladies'  Christian  Union,  and  after  her  death  the 
title  was  not  used,  so  the  National  Board  despaired 
of  ever  finding  any  one  to  fill  Miss  Dodge's  place. 
They  recognized  that  she  had  given  the  presidency  a 
content  impossible  to  demand  of  any  successor,  and 
they  divided  the  duties  of  the  office  she  had  held,  ere- 


A  PROPHET  AMONG  WOMEN  329 

ating  a  new  office,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, to  which  committee  many  business  details  had 
always  been  referred  by  the  Board.  In  the  winter 
of  1915  they  elected  two  charter  members  of  the  board 
to  these  positions:  Mrs.  Robert  E.  Speer  was  made 
President  of  the  National  Board,  and  Mrs.  John 
French,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

MOTTOES   AND   SPIRIT 

IN  those  earliest  days  when  Miss  Robarts  was  seek- 
ing to  make  the  tiny  little  Association  known  in 
order  to  increase  the  number  of  its  praying  mem- 
bers, and  to  unite  them  locally  into  bands  under  lead- 
ers whom  she  named  their  secretaries,  she  sent  out 
modest  leaflets  from  time  to  time,  undated,  although 
from  the  context  the  dates  have  been  somewhat  ac- 
curately assigned  by  her  co-workers.  Perhaps  about 
1860  there  appeared  the  paper  headed 

Young  Women's  Chbistian  Association 

Prayer  Union 

Motto:     "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  spirit, 

saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." — Zechariah  iv,  6. 

One  sentence  read,  **The  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  affords  opportunities  of  work  for  God 
within  the  reach  of  all,  and  the  Prayer  Union  binds 
the  workers  together,  and  is  the  source  of  all  strength 
and  success  in  the  work  of  the  Young  Women 's  Chris- 
tian Association.*'  Nine  suggested  means  of  useful- 
ness were  cited,  beginning  with  *  *  Example  in  conduct, 
dress,  etc.,  to  manifest  Christian  consistency  and  sepa- 
ration from  the  world,"  and  ending,  **The  encour- 
agement of  total  abstinence  principles." 

When  the  Prayer  Union  and  Institute  Branches  of- 
330 


MOTTOES  AND  SPIRIT  831 

ficially  united  in  1877,  after  many  individuals  had 
been  personally  connected  with  both,  it  was  decided 
to  adopt  some  uniform  nomenclature.  They  called 
** members"  those  who  joined  the  Prayer  Union,  those 
who  had  entered  into  a  living  union  with  Christ  by 
faith,  and  taken  as  * '  The  only  principle  of  action  the 
constraining  power  of  His  love  shed  abroad  in  the 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Those  who  could  not  as 
yet  say  that  they  desired  to  be  absolutely  and  avow- 
edly on  the  side  of  Christ  were  called  Associates. 
The  Prayer  Union  motto  was  retained  for  the  ''mem- 
bers," and  for  the  Associates  Mrs.  Pennefather,  in 
1877,  chose  the  general  motto,  ' '  By  love  serve  one  an- 
other" (Galatians  v,  13).  The  Total  Abstinence 
diamond  shaped  badge  was  much  admired  and  finally 
made  the  general  badge,  with  the  general  motto  upon 
it.  This  blue  enamel  diamond  pendant  bearing  the 
words,  *'By  love  serve,"  has  been  worn  in  every  part 
of  the  world. 

When  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
Quarterly  first  appeared  in  Chicago  in  1888,  the 
words,  *'Not  by  might  nor  by  power  but  by  my  spirit, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts, ' '  were  printed  in  the  heading 
of  the  little  eight  page  paper,  and  elsewhere  there 
was  a  note  explaining  that  that  was  the  motto  adopted 
by  the  Associations  affiliated  with  the  National  Com- 
mittee. Consequently,  in  1894,  when  the  World's  As- 
sociation was  being  formed  of  only  four  national  com- 
mittees, these  two  countries  might  naturally  suggest 
the  motto  already  dear  to  them  as  a  suitable  keynote 
for  the  combined  movement. 


332       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

The  Honorable  Emily  Kinnaird,  in  speaking  to  a 
company  of  British  and  Americans  that  year,  drew 
attention  to  the  motto  already  adopted  by  both  con- 
tinents and  expressed  the  hope  that  the  Association 
would  ever  go  forward  in  the  strength  and  inspira- 
tion of  such  a  motto.  As  is  known,  the  first  World's 
Conference  adopted  these  words  upon  the  official 
badge,  and  this  text  of  warning  and  promised  strength 
has  appeared  upon  official  papers  ever  since. 

At  the  Montreal  Conference  of  the  Women's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  in  1897,  a 
committee  on  a  badge  for  members  and  Associations 
connected  with  the  International  Board  brought  in  a 
design  which  bore  on  an  enclosed  triangle  the  words, 
**By  love  serve,"  which  was  accepted  as  the  motto. 

Even  the  people  who  do  not  care  for  badges  appre- 
ciate the  stable  fact  of  which  the  badge  is  the  outward 
symbol,  and  it  was  with  great  satisfaction  that  the 
members  at  large  learned  that  the  National  Board  had 
chosen  from  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  John,  these  words  as  a  part  of  the  official  seal. 

**I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that 
they  might  have  it  more  abundantly. ' ' 

This  became  also  the  motto  of  the  entire  national 
organization. 

The  previous  mottoes  referred  to  the  Christian 
woman  undertaking  something  for  her  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter. They  spoke  of  human  deficiency  and  divine 
power,  of  human  love  poured  out  in  divine  service. 

The  new  motto  speaks  of  Christ's  own  thought  for 
the  girls  at  the  beginning  of  life,  relates  Him  to  them 


MOTTOES  AND  SPIRIT  333 

and  them  to  Him,  and  opens  to  them  a  future  exceed- 
ing abundant,  above  all  that  they  could  ask  or  think. 
In  the  decades  ahead,  as  in  the  five  decades  already 
compassed,  Jesus  Christ,  the  same,  yesterday,  and  for- 
ever, can  be  recognized  as  the  central  figure  of  the 
Young  Women 's  Christian  Association. 

cseist  is  the  end,  for  christ  was  the  beginning, 
Christ  the  beginning   for  the  end  is  Christ. 


APPENDIX 


CHRONOLOGY 


1844. 
1851. 
1855. 

1858. 


1859. 
1860. 


1861. 
1866. 


June  6.    London  Young  Men's  Christian   Association 
organized. 

December    9.     Boston,   Mass.,    Young   Men's   Christian 
Association  organized. 

English  Prayer  Union  formed. 

English  Institute  Branch   formed  by  enlarging  scope 
of  Nurses'  Home. 

January.     Students'  Christian  Association  organized  in 
the  University  of  Michigan   (not  co-educational). 

October  12.     Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  the 
University  of  Virginia  organized. 

Young    Women's    Christian    Improvement    Association 
started  in  the  Home  in  London. 

November  24.     Ladies'  Christian  Association  organized 
in  New  York  City. 

Agitation  for  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  in 
Boston. 

June  1.     Boarding  Home  opened  in  Amity  Place,  New 
York  City,  by  Ladies'  Christian  Association. 

Meetings  held  in  New  York  factories  by  Ladies'  Chris- 
tian Association. 

Pall  Mall  Institute  opened  in  London. 

March  3.     Boston  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion organized    (name  first  taken  in  America). 

May.     Rooms  opened  in  Chauncey  Street,  Boston. 

Mary  Foster  became  secretary  of  the  Boston  Associa- 
tion. 

Thursday  evening  prayer  meeting  in  rooms  of  Boston 
Association. 

Singing  taught  in  Boston  Association. 

Name    of    Ladies'    Christian    Association    changed    to 
Ladies'  Christian  Union  of  New  York  City. 
337 


^ 


^,y^\„y^• 


$39       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

1867.  April  23.     Providence  Women's  Christian   Association 

organized. 

June.  Hartford  organized  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. 

July  23.  Providence  Association  opened  combination 
Home. 

Pittsburgh  Women's  Christian  Association  organized. 

Astronomy  and  physiology  taught  in  Boston  Associa- 
tion. 

1868.  February  19.     Beach  Street  property  occupied  by  Bos- 

ton Association. 

Dining  room  of  Boston  boarding  home  conducted  on 
restaurant  plan. 

Penmanship  and  bookkeeping  taught  in  Boston  Asso- 
ciation. 

March.  Providence  Association  reorganized  on  protec- 
tive lines. 

June.  Cincinnati  Women's  Christian  Association  or- 
ganized. 

November  10.  Cleveland  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion organized. 

December.  St.  Louis  Women's  Christian  Association 
organized. 

1869.  Botany  taught  in  Boston  Association. 

1870.  February    10.     Young   Ladies'    Branch   of   the   Ladies' 

Christian  Union  of  New  York  City  organized  by 
Mrs.  Roberts  (later  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation of  City  of  New  York ) . 

Women's  Christian  Association  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  or- 
ganized. 

Women's  Christian   Association  of  Utica  organized. 

Women's  Christian  Association  of  Washington  organ- 
ized. 

Women's  Christian  Association  of  Buffalo  organized. 

November,  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Phila- 
delphia organized. 

1871.  February.     Women's  Christian  Association  of  German- 

town,  Pa.,  organized. 
June  22.    Women's  Christian  Association  of  Newaxk, 
N.  J.,  organized. 


CHRONOLOGY  339 

October  9-10.  National  Conference  of  Women's 
Christian  Association  held  at  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

Women's  Christian  Association  of  Springfield,  Mass., 
organized. 

1872.  February.     Class  in  machine  sewing  conducted  by  New 

York  City  Association. 

Ella  Doheny  commenced  Sunday  afternoon  Bible  Class 
in  New  York  City  Association. 

Philadelphia  Association  opened  restaurant  for  women. 

Hartford  dedicated  first  building  erected  for  such  pur- 
poses. 

November  12.  Young  women's  meetings  for  prayer 
began  at  Normal,  Illinois. 

1873.  January   19.     Young  Ladies'   Christian   Association  of 

Normal,   Illinois,  organized  by  Normal   School  stu- 
dents. 

1874.  Boston  Association  occupied  Warrenton  Street  building. 
Sea  Rest,  at  Asbury  Park,  N.  J.,  opened  as  summer 

home  of  the  Philadelphia  Association. 
History  taught  in  Boston  Association. 
Telegiaphy  taught  in  Philadelphia  Association. 

1875.  C.  V.  Drinkwater  became  Superintendent  in  Boston. 
October    12-15.     Women's   Christian   Association    Con- 
ference became  international. 

November  4.     Young  Ladies'  Christian  Association  of  i 

Northwestern  College    (later  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association)    organized. 

Exposition  of  Authors  held  in  St.  Louis. 

1876.  October  17.     Young  Women's  Christian  Association  or- 

ganized in  Southern  Illinois  Normal  University,  Car- 
bondale. 
October  21.     Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of 
Olivet  College,  Michigan,  organized. 

1877.  Union    of    Prayer    Union    and    Institute    Branches    in 

London. 

Princeton  University  Yoimg  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion led  in  Intercollegiate  Movement. 

October  30.  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of 
Lenox  College,  Hopkinton,  Iowa,  organized. 

Calisthenics  taught  in  the  Boston  Association  by  one 
of  the  boarders  in  Warrenton  Street  Home. 


i^ 


y 


340       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

1878.  Providence    Association    conducted    summer    home    on 

Conanicut  Island. 
Kensington  and  Crewel  classes  held  by  New  York  City 
\  Association. 

1879.  Domestic  Training  School,  Boston. 
Ladies'  Cooking  Classes,  Boston. 

1880.  Public  School  Cooking  Class  in  Boston  Association. 
Phonography,  typewriting,  photo  negative,  photo  color- 
ing and  painting  on  china  classes  in  New  York  City 
Association. 

Young  Ladies'  Society  of  Co-workers  organized  in 
Doane  College,  Crete,  Nebraska.  ( 1883  changed  to 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association.) 

1881.  February    20.     L.    D.    Wishard    spoke    to    the    Young 

Ladies'  Christian  Association  at  Normal. 

April  23.  New  Constitution  adopted  by  the  Young 
Ladies'  Christian  Association  of  Normal. 

September  11.  Name  of  Young  Ladies'  Christian  As- 
sociation of  Normal  changed  to  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association. 

October.  Committee  on  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation work  in  colleges  and  seminaries  appointed 
by  the  Sixth  International  Conference  of  Women's 
Christian  Associations. 

St.  Louis  Association  offered  a  public  course  of  cook- 
ing lessons  by  Juliet  Corson. 

Technical  design  and  free  hand  enlarging  taught  in 
New  York  City  Association. 

Little  Girls'   Christian  Association   in   Oakland,   Cali- 
fornia. 
\  1882.     Boston    Association   sent   class   to   Miss   Allen's   gym- 
nasium. 

Household  Training  School  opened  by  St.  Louis  Asso- 
ciation. 

1883.  Course  of  Emergency  Lectures  instituted  by  Boston. 
Baltimore   opened   rooms  adapted  for   noon    lunch   as 

prominent  feature. 

1884.  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Pleasant  Val- 

ley township,  Johnson  County,  Iowa,  organized. 
February  7-11.     First  State  Young  Women's  Christian 


CHRONOLOGY  841 

Association  organized  at  Albion,  Michigan  conven- 
tion. 

February  14-17.  State  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation of  Ohio  organized. 

November  15.  Iowa  State  Yoimg  Women's  Christian 
Association  organized. 

December  8.  Berkeley  Street  Building,  Boston,  dedi- 
cated. It  contained  the  first  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  gymnasium  in  America. 

United  Central  Coimcil  formed  in  Great  Britain. 

1885.  Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 

ciation organized. 

Great  Fair  held  by  New  York  City  Association. 

Travelers'  Aid  placards  posted  in  London. 

Delegation  from  State  Associations  attended  Interna- 
tional Conference  of  the  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions at  Cincinnati. 

1886.  Lawrence,  Kansas,  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 

tion organized. 

March  30.     Poughkeepsie  Girls'  Branch  organized.        

"Noon  Hour  Rest"  conducted  by  Poughkeepsie  Associa- 
tion. 

July.  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions originated. 

August  6-12.  National  Association  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States 
formed  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin. 

Mrs.  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  elected  president  of  the 
National  Committee  of  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociations. 

December.  Nettie  Dunn  became  general  secretary  of  the 
National  Committee  of  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociations. 

1887.  February.     Bertha  Van  Vliet  became  secretary  of  the      / 

Poughkeepsie  Girls'  Branch. 

Ypsilanti,  Michigan,  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion organized. 

Topeka,  Kansas,  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
organized. 


V 


842       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Exhibit  of  class  work  in  millinery  and  dressmaking 

held  in  Philadelphia. 
Self-Governing  Club  organized  by  Miss  Dodg€  in  the 

Baltimore  Association. 
Calisthenics  taught  in  New  York  City,  Philadelphia, 

and  Poughkeepsie. 
Hope  Narey  became  gymnasium  instructor  in  Boston — 

'88,  physical  director. 
July.     Mary    E.    Blodgett   became    Travelers'    Aid    in 

Boston. 
October.     Ida  L.  Schell  became  state  secretary  of  Iowa. 
December.     Nellie  Knox  became  state  secretary  of  Ohio. 

1888.  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 

ciation organized. 
Scranton,  Penn.,  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 

organized. 
Brinton  Hall,  Philadelphia,  given  for  headquarters  to 

the  Women's  Medical  College  Association. 
Physical  education  in  Worcester,  Scranton,  Coldwater, 

Michigan,  and  Newburgh,  N.  Y. 
Current  Events  class  held  in  Worcester. 
Advanced  classes  in  cutting  and  fitting  held  by  New 

York  City  Association. 
Boston  Association  opened  School  of  Domestic  Science. 
Young  Women's  Cliristian  Association  Quarterly  pub- 
lished by  the  National  Committee  of  Young  Women's 

Christian  Associations. 

1889.  Constitution  of  the  "National"  Association  of  Young 

Women's  Christian  Associations  changed  to  "Inter- 
national" to  admit  Associations  in  the  British  Prov- 
inces. 

First  national  gathering  of  secretaries  at  Bloomington. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association  Quarterly 
changed  to  the  Evangel. 

Branch  Association  opened  by  Baltimore. 

1890.  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 

sociation organized. 
Mary  S.  Dunn  became  general  secretary  and  physical 

director  in  Kansas  City. 
Toledo,   Ohio,   Young  Women's   Christian   Association 

organized. 


CHRONOLOGY  848 

Trained  attendants'  class  opened  in  Brooklyn. 

1891.  March.    The  Cafeteria  system  introduced  into  the  Kaa- 

sas  City,  Missouri,  Association. 

Close  Hall  occupied  by  the  joint  Associations  of  th« 
University  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City. 

Minneapolis  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  or- 
ganized. 

The  International  Conference  reorganized  into  the  In- 
ternational Board  of  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions, in  1893  The  International  Board  of  Women's 
and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 

Mrs.  C.  R.  Springer  elected  president  of  the  Interna- 
tional Board. 

Summer  Bible  and  Training  School  held  at  Bay  View, 
Michigan. 

1892.  Preliminary  meeting  of  World's  Young  Women's  Chris- 

tian Association  in  London.  . 

Summer  Conference  removed  from  Bay  View,  Michigan,    \y 
to  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin. 

Abby  S.  Mayhew  became  physical  director  in  Minne- 
apolis. 

Busy  Girls'  Half  Hour  established  by  Dayton  in  the 
National  Cash  Register  works. 

1893.  Northfield  Summer  Conference  established. 

Exhibits  at   the  World's  Columbian   Exposition  by 
both  National  bodies. 

1894.  April,     Initial  number  of  the  "International  Messen- 

ger" appeared. 

Organization  of  World's  Young  Women's  Christian  As- 
sociation. 

Annie  M.  Reynolds  became  general  secretary  of  the 
World's  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 

Agnes  Gale  Hill  called  to  Madras,  India. 

Toledo  Association  raised  support  for  Foreign  Secre- 
tary. 

Harlem  Association  Clubs,  "Birthday  Building,"  "Lit- 
erary" and  "Annex  Choral,"  organized. 

1895.  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  formed. 
Industrial    extension    begun    in    Milwaukee.    Maude 

Wolff,  secretary. 


344       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Mary  Armstrong  became  general  secretary  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin. 

Colgate  Chrysanthemum  Club  formed  in  Harlem  Asso- 
ciation. 

1896.  Summer  Cottage  on  Genesee  Lake,  Wisconsin,  given  to 

the  Milwaukee  Association. 

1897.  Boston  Association  offered  courses  for  Young  Women's 

Christian  Association  secretaries. 
December    31,    1897,    to    January    2,    1898.     Fillmore 
County,    Minnesota,    Convention. 

1898.  First  County  Association  organized. 

March.     Dodge   County    (Minnesota)    Young   Women's 

Christian  Association  organized. 
First  World's  Conference  fixed  World's  Week  of  Prayer 

in  November  and  adopted  motto  and  badge. 
Charlotte  H.  Adams  became  Religious  Work  director 

in  Pittsburgh. 

1899.  International  Committee  of  Young  Women's  Christian 

Associations    became    The    American    Committee    of 

Young    Women's    Christian    Associations,    releasing 

Canada. 
American     department     of     the     World's     Committee 

created. 
Dr.  Anna  L.  Brown  became  Religious  Work  director  in 

Boston. 

1900.  Neva    Chappell    called    to    Minneapolis    as    extension 

secretary. 
Support  of  a  national  secretaryship  assumed  by  one 
donor. 

1901.  Headquarters  opened  by   International   Board  at  the 

Chautauqua,  N.  Y.  Assembly  Grounds. 
Milwaukee  included  a  model  housekeeping  apartment 
in  its  new  building. 

1902.  Division   of   Student  and   City   Conferences  at   Silver 

Bay. 

1903.  The  Bulletin  replaced  the  International  Messenger  as 

oflScial  organ  of  the  "International  Board." 
Headquarters  opened  by  the  International  Board  at  the 

Southern  Chautauqua,  Mont  Eagle,  Tenn. 
Martha  Berninger  appointed  first  secretary  to  China. 
Theresa  Morrison  appointed  first  secretary  to  Japan. 


CHRONOLOGY  845 

1904.  Secretaries'  Training  Institute  opened  in  Chicago.        ^ 
Monaghan  Mills  Association  opened  in  Greenville,  S.  C. 
Louisiana    Purchase    Exposition    Travelers'    Aid   work 

instigated  by  International  Board. 

1905.  May  24.     The  Manhattan  Conference  considered  union 

of  the  two  National  bodies. 
Woman's  Department  of  the  World's  Student  Christian 

Federation  formed. 
Exposition  Travelers'  Aid  Committee  formed  for  Lewis 

and  Clark  Exposition  at  Portland.  / 

Swimming  taught  in  pool  in  Buffalo  and  Montgomery.  ^/ 
November  2-7,     The  18th  Biennial  Conference  of  the 

International  Board  voted  for  union,  Baltimore. 

1906.  January  2-4.     A  special  Convention  of  The  American 

Committee  Associations,  Chicago,  voted  in  favor  of 

union.  t 

Emma   J.    Batty   appointed   first   secretary   to   South 

America. 
December     5-6.     First     Convention     of     the     Young 

Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States      "^^ 

of  America,  New  York  City. 
December  7.     Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge  elected  President  of 

the  National  Board. 

1907.  February.     Initial  number  of  The  Association  Monthly 

appeared. 
The  Studio  Club  of  New  York  City  opened  rooms. 

1908.  September    23.     National    Training    School    opened    at  •** 

No.  3  Gramercy  Park. 
October  17.  Woodford  County,  111.,  Association  organized. 
First  Federation  of  Industrial  Clubs  formed  in  Detroit. 

1909.  National   organization    completed   at    Second    Biennial 

Convention,  St.  Paul. 
Organization  of  the  Employed  Officers  Association. 
Employed  Officers  Association  considered  "Adolescence" 

as  theme  of  their  Minneapolis  Conference. 

1910.  Central  Club  for  Nurses  established  in  New  York  City. 
International  Institute  opened  in  New  York  City. 

1911.  Boston  Metropolitan  Student  work  undertaken. 
April.    Third  Biennial  Convention  held  in  Indianapolis. 

1912.  Annual  members  elected  by  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 

Field  Committee. 


346       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

.  Camp  Fire  Girls'  movement  developed. 
Council  of  North.  American  Student  Movements  formed. 
National  Headquarters  in  New  York  City  erected. 
New  York  City  Metropolitan  organization  effected. 
September.     The  National  Training  School  opened  its 

fifth  year  in  its  new  building,  135  East  52nd  Street, 

New  York  City. 

1913.  March.     Initial  number  of  the  North  American   Stu- 

dent appeared. 

April.     Fourth  Biennial  Convention  held  in  Richmond. 

Certificate  offered  for  Eight  Week  Clubs. 

June.  Tenth  Conference  of  the  World's  Student  Chris- 
tian Federation  met  at  Lake  Mohonk,  N.  Y. 

Industrial  Club  Councils  held  at  Altamont  and  Camp 
Nepahwin. 

Asilomar  Conference  Grounds  opened. 

Frances  C.  Gage  and  Anna  Welles  appointed  first  secre- 
taries in  Turkey. 

Campaign  for  $3,000,000  for  Yoimg  Women's  Christian 
Association  buildings  in  New  York  City. 

1914.  December  27.     Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge,  deceased, 

1915.  February  3.     Mrs.  Robert  E,  Speer  elected  President  of 

the  National  Board. 

Headquarters  and  Club  House  erected  by  the  National 
Board  on  the  Panama-Pacific  International  Exposi- 
tion ground  at  San  Francisco. 

May.     Fifth  Biennial  Convention  held  in  Los  Angeles. 

First  County  Summer  Conference,  Conference  Point, 
Lake  Geneva. 


SOURCES  AND  GLOSSARY 


Chapter  I 

Abbott,  Edith.  History  of  the  Employment  of  Women  in  the 
American  Cotton  Mills.  Journal  of  Political  Economy, 
Vol.  XVI,  pp.  602-21;  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  19-35. 

Child,  Lydia  Maria.  Brief  History  of  the  Condition  of  Women 
in  Various  Ages  and  Nations.  C.  S.  Francis  Co.,  New 
York.     1849. 

Fairchild,  James  H.  Oberlin,  the  Colony  and  the  College. 
E.  J.  Goodrich,  Oberlin.     1883. 

Larcom,  Lucy.  A  New  England  Girlhood.  Houghton  Mifflin 
&  Co.,  Boston.     1889. 

Nearing,  Scott,  and  N.  M.  S.  Nearing.  Woman  and  Social 
Progress.     MacMillan  &  Co.,  New  York.     1912. 

Penny,  Virginia.  The  Employment  of  Women.  (No  pub- 
lisher.)    Boston.     1863. 

Taylor,  James  Monroe.  Before  Vassar  Opened.  Houghton 
Mifflin  &  Co.,  Boston.     1914. 

Chapter  II 

Braithwaite,  Robert.  Life  and  Letters  of  Rev.  William  Penne- 
father.     Robert  Carter  &  Co.,  New  York.     1878. 

Williams,  J.  E.  Hodder.  The  Life  of  Sir  George  Williams. 
A.  C.  Armstrong  Co.,  New  York.     1906. 

Martin,  Sir  Theodore.  The  Life  of  H.  R.  H.  the  Prince  Con- 
sort.    Smith,  Elder  &  Co.,  London.     1878. 

Moor,  Lucy  M.  Girls  of  Yesterday  and  To-day.  S.  W.  Part- 
ridge &  Co.,  London.     1911. 

Stock,  Eugene.  History  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
London.     1899. 

347 


348        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Facsimile  of  title  page  of  first  report 

The  First  Report  of  the 

Young  Men's 

Christian  Association 

for  the 

Improvement  of  the  Spiritual  Condition 

of  Young  Men  Engaged  in  the 

Drapery  and  other  Trades 

by  the 

Introduction  of  Religious  Services 

into 

Houses  of  Business 

Instituted  in  London 

June  6,  1844. 

Association  Men.     Vol.  XXXIII,  Number  10  (July,  1908),  pp. 

457-469. 
Go  Forward  (1905).     Historical  papers  by  Mrs.  M.  M.  Gordon, 

Lucy  M.  Moor,  Jessie  Coombs,  etc. 
Sisters.     Illustrated  pamphlet  of  the  British  Jubilee,  1905. 

Prayer  Union  circular  letters   (No.  2  quoted  above). 

No.  2.  "To  the  Members  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association." 

No.  3.  "Young  Women's  Christian  Association  Prayer 
Union." 

No.  4.  "Sketch  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion" (signed)  E.  R. 

"Young  Women's  Christian  Association"  (signed)  Misa  L. 
M.  Moor. 

"Letter  to  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Provincial  Workers."  November  12, 
1884  (signed)  Lucy  M.  Moor. 

F.  R.  Havergal. 

Other  hymn  writers  connected  with  the  British  Associations 
were  Emily  Steele  Elliott,  who  wrote,  "Thou  Didst  Leave 
Thy  Throne  and  Thy  Kingly  Crown";  Katherine  Hankey, 
author  of  "Tell  Me  the  Old,  Old  Story"  and  "I  Love  to 
Tell  the  Story";  and  Mrs.  Horatius  Bonar,  who  wrote 
"Fade,  Fade,  Each  Earthly  Joy." 


SOURCES  AND  GLOSSARY  349 

Chaptee  III 

Cook,  Sir  Edward.  The  Life  of  Florence  Nightingale.  Mac- 
millan  &  Co.,  London.     1913. 

Fraser,  Donald.  Mary  Jane  Kinnaird.  James  Nisbet  &  Co., 
London.     1890. 

Hill,  Georgiana.  English  Life  from  Mediaeval  to  Modern 
Times.     R.  R.  Bensley  &  Son,  London.     1896. 

Hodder,  Edwin.  The  Life  and  Work  of  the  Seventh  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury.     Cassell  &  Co.,  London.     1886. 

Nightingale,  Florence.  Notes  on  Nursing.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York.     1860. 

January,  1856 — Circular   (signed)  A.  Kinnaird   (2). 

June,   1856 — Circular    (signed)    A.  Kinnaird. 

Undated — A.  Kinnaird;  name  heads  page  as  treasurer. 

1856 — Announcement  of  Home. 

1858  (?)  Announcement  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Im- 
provement Association. 

May,  1860— Circular  letter  to  members  of  Y.  W.  C.  I.  A. 
(signed)  M.  J.  Ivinnaird. 

July,  1861 — Announcement  and  circular  of  United  Association 
for  the  Christian  and  Domestic  Improvement  of  Young 
Women.     President,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury. 

1861 — ^A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  origin,  aim  and  mode  of  con- 
ducting the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  and 
West  London  Home  for  Young  Women  engaged  in  houses 
of  business. 

1871 — Pamphlet,  "The  Christian  Association  for  Young 
Women." 

Later  than  1877— Pamphlet,  "Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  Institute 
Union." 

London  Times — August  15,  1911,  Biographical  article  on 
Florence  Nightingale. 

Go  Forward— July,  1901,  p.  164. 

Report  of  the  North  London  Home,  51  Upper  Charlotte  St., 
for  1856,  including  Rules  and  Treasurer's  statements. 

Same  for  1857. 

First  Report  of  United  Association  for  Christian  and  Domestic 
Improvement  of  Young  Women,  1862. 

London  Young  Women's  Institute  Union  and  Christian 
ciation.    Report  for  year  1877. 


850       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Speech  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  (from  1881  report). 
Annual  reports  of  later  dates  containing  historical  references. 

Chapteb  IV 

Girls  of  Yesterday  and  To-day. 

Money — ^Townsend.    The  Story  of  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society. 

Wells,  Gardner,  Darton  &  Co.,  London.     1913. 
"Y.  W.  C.  A.  Sketches."     Illustrated  pamphlet  prepared  for 

Queen  Victoria's  Diamond  Jubilee,  1897. 
Pamphlet— Ten   Years'  Record  of  the   World's  Y.   W.   C.   A. 

1901.    Annie  M.  Reynolds. 

Chapter  V 

Thompson,  Joseph  P.  The  Royalty  of  Faith — A  meditation 
on  the  life  of  Mrs.  Marshall  O.  Roberts.  No  Publisher. 
1876. 

Reports  of  the  Ladies'  Christian  Union.     1859-1915. 

New  York  Christian  Advocate — Nos.  46  to  141,  cited  Septem- 
ber 9,  1858. 

International  Conference  reports — 1871  et  aeq. 

Report  of  Ninth  International  Conference,  1887 — page  109. 

This  antedates  the  first  otherwise  known  record.  The  London 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  report  for  1885  mentions  regular  visits  begun 
April,  1885,  in  laundries  in  the  west  of  London. 

The  London  report  for  1888,  however,  speaks  of  a  special 
Institute  in  South  Belgravia,  when  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  began 
separate  work  among  factory  hands  in  1872. 

Chapteb  VI 

Morse,  Richard  C.  History  of  the  North  American  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  Association  Press,  New 
York.     1913. 

Putnam,  James  Jackson.  Memoirs  of  Dr.  James  Jackson. 
Houghton  &  Mifflin,  Boston.  1905.  The  Congregational 
Building  was  formerly  the  residence  of  Judge  Jackson. 

The  Watchman  and  Reflector.     October  9,  1861. 

The  Watchman  and  Reflector.     January  15,   1852. 

Reports  of  International  Conferences.     1871-1905. 

The  International  Messenger.     1894-1902. 


SOURCES  AND  GLOSSARY  351 

Boston  reports  from  1867-1915.  Several  of  these,  e.g.  25th 
and  40th,  contain  historical  material. 

Announcements,  circulars,  prospectuses,  etc. 

Letter  from  Wm.  H.  Cobb.  Congregational  Library.  Histor- 
ical statement,  C.  V.  Drinkwater. 

Chapteb  VII 

Journal  of  the  International  W.  C.  A.  Conference,  1871-1891. 

History  pamphlet  by  Mrs.  M.  S.  Lamson. 

Annual  reports.     Hartford,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  New  York 

City,  etc.,  etc. 
Historical  sketches  in  pamphlet  or  newspaper  form. 
Occasional  copies  of  Faith  and  Works. 

Chapteb  VIII 

Reports  of  the  International  Committee  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s,  1886- 

1891. 
Reports  of  State  Associations,  1884  et  seq. 
The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Quarterly,  1888-1889.     The  Evangel,  1889- 

1891. 
Reports,  Circulars,  etc. 
Historical  material  of  local  Associations. 
Model  constitutions,  1,  2,  3  editions. 
Our  Yoimg  Women,  1894,  Toledo,  Ohio,  page  8. 

Chapteb  IX 

Bevier  and  Usher.  The  Home  Economics  Movement.  Whit- 
comb  and  Barrows,  Boston.     1906. 

Journals  of  the  International  Conferences,  1891-1905. 

Annual  Reports  of  The  American  Committee,  1891-1906. 

The  International  Messenger,  1894-1902. 

The  Bulletin,  1903-1905. 

The  Evangel,   1891-1906. 

State  Convention  Reports,  1891-1906. 

Reports  of  local  Associations  and  various  printed  matter. 

Articles  on  Household  Arts  in  Education,  Physical  Education, 
etc.,  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  Education. 

Campbell,  Helen.  "Certain  Forms  of  Women's  Work  for 
Women."    The  Century  Magazine,  June,   1889. 


352        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Chapters  X  and  XI 

History  of  the  North  American  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations. 

Williams,  Wolcott  B.  A  History  of  Olivet  College.  No  pub- 
lisher.    Olivet,  Mich.     1901. 

Leonard,  Delavan  L.  The  History  of  Carleton  College. 
Fleming  H.  Revell,  Chicago.     1904. 

Typewritten  Minutes  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  of  Normal,  111.,  from 
1872  to  1884.     Also  historical  papers  of  various  dates. 

Reports  of  The  American  Committee,  1886-1906. 

Journal  of  the  International  W.  C.  A.  Conference,  1881-1891. 

Year  Books  of  the  International  Committee  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  State  Committee  Reports,  1884-1906. 

The  College  Bulletin  of  the  International  Committee,  Y.  M. 
C.  A. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  Quarterly,  1888-1889,  The  Evangel,  1889-1906. 

World's  Conference  Reports,  1898  to  1906. 

Report  of  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference.  New  York, 
1900.     Volume  I,  page  47. 

Chapter  XII 

The  Evangel,  June,  1898. 

State  Y.  W. 'C.  A.  Reports,  especially  Iowa. 

Journal  of  the  International  Conferences  of  the  W.  C.  A. 

Annual  Reports,  International  Committee  Y.  W.  C.  A's.,  1886- 

1891. 
Iowa  State  Notes,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  1887-1889. 
Historical  Sketch  of  Johnson  County  Association. 
Report  of  State  Committee  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Iowa,  1886. 
Typewritten  volumes  of  Memorabilia,  by  Robert  Weidensall. 

Chapter  XIII 

Journals  of  International  Conferences  of  the  W.  C.  A.,  1871- 
1891. 

Chapter  XIV 

Annual  Reports,  1886-1906. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Quarterly,  1888-1889.     The  Evangel,  1889-1906. 
Typewritten  history  of  the  National  Organization   in  India. 
Hon.  E.  Kinnaird  and  A.  G.  Hill. 


SOURCES  AND  GLOSSARY  353 

Girls  of  Yesterday  and  To-day. 

History  of  the  North  American  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Resolutions  from  State  Associations  to  W.  C.  A.  Conference. 

Proposition  carried  by  the  Committee  to  Cincinnati,  1885. 

Report  of  same  committee  to  the  State  Committees. 

Circular  calling  the  Lake  Geneva  Convention. 

Autograph  list  of  delegates  at  Lake  Geneva,  1886. 

Pencil  list  of  Associations  in  1886. 

Circulars  of  the  National  Committee,  International  and  Ameri- 
can Committees. 

Publication  list  of  The  International  Committee,  1894. 

Pamphlets  on  Secretarial  Training,  Basis,  Summer  Confer- 
ences, etc. 

World's  Committee  Circulars. 

Historical  pamphlets  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 

Alumni  Bulletins  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  Jan.,  1909, 
October,  1910. 

Students  fall  campaign  Handbooks. 

Letters  from  original  Associations,  etc.,  etc. 

Typewritten  volumes  of  memorabilia  of  Robert  Weidensall. 

State  Committee  constitutions,  circulars,  etc. 

The  Lawrentian,  May,  1884.  Student  publication,  Lawrence 
University. 

Circular  and  constitution  sent  out  by  Mrs.  Miller  and  Mr. 
Wishard. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  leaflets. 


Chapteb  XV 

Journal  of  the  International  Board  Conferences,  1891-1905. 
The  International  Messenger,   1894-1902. 
The  Bulletin,  1903-1906. 

Brief  Handbook.     The  International  Board,  1891. 
The  Philosophy  of  W.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
A  Message  from  the  fourteenth  Biennial  Conference. 
Covenant  between  the  International  Board  and  Local  Associa- 
tions. 
Statistical  card.     Convention  programs, 
and  other  pamphlets. 


S54f       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Papers  read  at  Conferences. 

Exposition  Travelers'  Aid  Committee  circulars  and  reports. 

Travelers*  Directory,  1898. 

State  Board  circulars  and  programs. 

Chapter  XVI 

The  Bulletin,  1905-1906. 

The  Evangel,  1905-1906. 

The  Association  Monthly,  February  and  March,  1915. 

Journal  of  International  Board  Conference,  November,  1905. 

Report  of   Special   Convention  of  The   American   Committee, 

January,  1906. 
Report  of  first  Convention  of  the  Y.  W.  C,  A.'s  of  the  U.  8.  of 

America. 
Report  of  Manhattan  Conferences  and  circular  letter  from  first 

committee. 
Circular  letters  from  Miss  Dodge. 
Joint  Committee  Leaflets,  1  to  8  with  supplements. 
Joint  Committee  Exhibits. 

Agreement  and  Application  Form  for  Charter  Membership. 
Replies  to  questionnaires. 
Papers  bearing  upon  terms  of  union. 
Iklatcrial  relating  to  Inter  Church  Conferences  on  Federation, 

definition  of  "Evangelical,"  etc. 

Chaptebs  XVII  TO  XXVIII  Inclusive 

The  Association  Monthly,  1907-1915. 

The  North  American  Student,  1913-1915. 

Reports,  recommendations  and  year-books,  1908-1915. 

Reports  of  National  Conventions,  1906-1915. 

Reports  of  World's  Conferences,  1898-1914. 

Joint  Committee  leaflets. 

OTHER   SOURCES   WILL   BE   CITED   IN   PLACE 

"As  a  corporate  body,"  Association  Monthly,  Feb.,  1907,  p.  45. 

"As  I  look,"  Association  Monthly,  Feb.,  1907,  p.  42. 

*TTiat  the  National  Board  shall  concentrate,"  Final  Report  of 

the  Joint  Committee,  Leaflet  No.  8,  p.  6. 
"The  symmetrical  development,"  Rep.  and  Rec.  of  the  National 

Board  to  the  second  Biennial  Convention,  p.  52. 


SOURCES  AND  GLOSSARY  S55 

"That  the  National  Board  shall  adopt,"  First  Convention  Re- 
port, p.  15. 

Table  of  receipts.  Annual  treasurer's  reports  of  The  Ameri- 
can Committee. 

Convention  subscriptions,  Kansas  and  Penn.  State  convention 
reports. 

"The  strongest  are  needed,"  Introduction  to  "The  Claims  and 
Opportunities  of  the  Christian  Ministry."  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Press,  N.  Y.     1911. 

"Intensive  as  well  as  extensive,"  Mabel  Cratty,  Association 
Monthly,  Jan.,  1908,  p.  568. 

"The  ultimate  purpose,"  Second  Convention  Report,  p.  107. 

Evangelical  Church  basis.  History  of  the  North  American 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  pp.  91,  et  seq.,  and 
Leaflet  No.  4. 

Federal  Council,  Joint  Committee  Leaflet  No.  5. 

"Der  Reichsbote,"  May  23,  1910. 

"It  may  be  an  audience,"  page  43,  Fourth  World's  Conference 
Report. 

"At  least  5000,"  quoted  in  Association  Monthly,  June,  1911, 
p.  200. 

See  article  by  Jessie  Woodrow  Wilson,  "What  Girls  can  do  for 
Girls  in  Good  Housekeeping,"  April,  1913. 

"Times  of  Retreat,"  from  Manual  of  Prayers  prepared  for 
Mohonk  Conference. 

See  report  of  Mohonk  Conference,  Association  Monthly,  July, 
1913. 

See  "Students  and  the  World  Wide  Expansion."  Report  of 
Student  Volunteer  Convention  of  1913. 

Garden  City  Report  under  title,  "Social  Needs  and  the  Col- 
leges." 

See  pamphlet  given  each  guest  at  the  "Harriet  Judson.'* 

"Let  us  resolve,"  Mrs.  Warren  Buxton,  Joint  Committee, 
Exhibit  XIV. 

"Not  the  cities  alone,"  see  Wage  Earning  Women.  (The  Mac- 
millan  Company,  1910.)  Report  of  Dr.  Annie  M.  Mac- 
Lean,  director  of  sociological  investigation  undertaken  by 
the  National  Board  in  1907. 

Woodford  County,  see  minutes  of  sectional  conference  in  Re- 
port of  Secretaries  Association  to  be  had  only  of  members 
of  the  Association. 


S56       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Camp  Fire  Girls,  Association  Monthly,  March,  1912,  p.  43. 
"European  and  American,"  first  World's  Conference  Report, 

p.  114. 
Mrs.  Wishard,  The  Evangel,  December,  1890,  p.  7. 
The  Evangel,  January,  1891,  p.  9,  also  January,  1893,  p.  7. 
"We  were  in  all,"  Evangel,  September,  1891. 
"A  Scotch  mind,"  Ten  Years  Record,  p.  15. 
Dr.  Johnston  Ross  in  The  Universality  of  Jesus  Christ.    The 

Evangel,  September,  1906,  p.  25. 
J.  H.  Tarleton— George  Williams,  p.  133. 
Grace  H.  Dodge,  article  in  The  World  To-day,  October,  1910. 

Association    Monthly    and    Supplement,    January,    1915, 

March,  1915. 
Janet  McCook  Whitman — see  Association  Monthly,  January, 

1910,  p.  1. 
English  Mottoes — Girls  of  Yesterday  and  To-day,  pp.  70-73. 
Hon.  E.  Kinnaird.    The  Evangel,  July,  1894,  p.  13. 


ASSOCIATIONS     COMPRISING    THE    YOUNG 

WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS  OF 

THE  UNITED   STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

JANUARY  1,  1916 

Stars  indicate  charter  membership — December  5,  1906. 

*  Previous  aflOiliation  with  The  American  Committee. 

**Previous  affiliation  with  the  International  Board. 
(Charter  Associations  coming  in  between  1906  and  1909  not 

indicated. ) 


CITY  ASSOCIATIONS 


Alabama 

Alabama  City 

Birmingham* 

Mobile* 

Montgomery* 
Abizona 

Bisbee 

Phoenix 
Arkansas 

Fort  Smith 

Little  Rock 
California 

Fresno* 

Long  Beach* 

LoB  Angeles* 

Oakland** 

Pasadena 

Redlands 

Riverside* 

Sacramento* 

San  Bernardino 

San  Diego 

San  Francisco** 

San  Jos6 


COLOBADO 

Colorado  Springs** 

Denver** 

Denver,    Rest    and    Recrea- 
tion Rooms 

Denver,  Scandinavian 
Connecticut 

Bridgeport* 

Meriden 

New  Britain 

New  Haven** 

New  London 
Delaware 

Wilmington 
District  of  Columbia 

Washington,  Colored 

Washington**    (W.   C.   A.) 

Washington* 
Florida 

Jacksonville 

Tampa 
Georgia 

Athens* 


357 


358        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 


AUanta* 

Ottumwa* 

Augusta 

Sioux  City* 

Savannah* 

Waterloo 

Hawaii 

Kansas 

Honolulu* 

Kansas  City*  (Center) 

Idaho 

Tin  i  HA 

Leavenworth 
Topeka* 

J^UIDO 

Wichita* 

Illinois 

Kentucky 

Aurora* 

Louisville 

Bloomington 

Louisiana 

Chicago*    (Assn.  House)            ^ew  Orleans 

Danville 

Maine 

Decatur* 

Bangor 

East  St.  Louis 

Bar  Harbor* 

Elgin* 

Lewiston** 

Peoria* 

Portland* 

Quincy* 

Maryland 

Rockford* 

Baltimore** 

Springfield 

Massachusetts 

Indiana 

Boston 

Elkhart 

Haverhill 

Evansville 

Holyoke* 

Fort  Wayne* 

Lawrence* 

Indianapolis* 

Lowell* 

Marion 

New  Bedford 

South  Bend* 

Springfield** 

Terre  Haute* 

Worcester** 

Iowa 

Michigan 

Boone 

Ann  Arbor* 

Burlington* 

Battle  Creek* 

Cedar  Rapids* 

Bay  City* 

Clinton 

Detroit* 

Council  Bluffs 

Flint 

Des  Moines* 

Grand  Rapids* 

Dubuque* 

Jackson* 

Fort  Dodge 

Kalamazoo* 

Keokuk* 

Lansing* 

Marshalltown 

Muskegon 

Mason  City 

Owosso 

Muscatine* 

Saginaw* 

LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS 


359 


St.  Joseph 

Batavia 

Traverse  City 

Binghamton* 

Minnesota 

Brooklyn** 

Duluth* 

Buffalo* 

Minneapolis* 
St.  Paul 

Cohoes* 
Elmira 

Winona 

Gloversville* 

Jamestown* 

Mtrsissippi 

Lockport 

Laurel 

Newburgh* 

MlBSOUBI 

New  York  City 

Joplin** 

Central  Branch** 

Kansas  City* 

Harlem  Branch* 

St.  Joseph* 

Bronx  Branch 

St.  Louis**    (W.  C.  A.) 

'                Colored  Women's  Branch 

St.  Louis 

International  Institute 

Springfield 

French   Branch** 

Montana 

Recreation  Center 

Billings 

West  Side  Branch** 

Great  Falls 

Poughkeepsie* 

Missoula 

Rochester* 

Nebraska 

Schenectady* 

Lincoln* 

Syracuse** 

Omaha* 

The   Tonawandas 

New  Hampshire 

Utica** 

Nashua* 

Yonkers* 

New  Jersey 

North  Carolina 

Camden 

Asheville 

Jersey  City* 

Charlotte* 

Newark** 

Greensboro* 

Newton* 

Wilmington 

Passaic* 

Winston-Salem 

Paterson* 

North  Dakota 

Phillipsburg 

Fargo 

Plainfield 

Grand  Forks* 

The  Oranges 

Ohio 

Trenton* 

Akron* 

New  Mexico 

Canton 

Albuquerque 

Cincinnati** 

New  York 

Cleveland** 

Albany 

Columbus** 

86a       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 


Dayton** 

East  Liverpool 

Elyria 

Hamilton** 

Lancaster 

Newark 

Portsmouth 

Springfield** 

Steubenville 

Toledo* 

Youngstown* 
Oklahoma 

Oklahoma  City 

Tulsa 
Oregon 

Portland* 

Salem 
Pennsylvania 

Allentown** 

Altoona* 

Chester 

Coatesville 

Easton 

Erie** 

Germantown 

Harrisburg* 

Hazleton 

Hershey 

Johnstown 

Lancaster* 

McKeesport 

Meadville 

New  Castle 

Norristown 

Philadelphia** 

Pittsburg* 

Pittsburg,  East  Liberty' 

Pottstown 

Reading* 

Scranton* 

Sunbury 


Warren 

Washington 

Wilkes-Barre* 

Williamsport* 

Wilmerding 

York* 
Rhode  Island 

Pawtucket  &  Central  Falli 

Providence** 
South  Cabolina 

Charleston* 
Tennessee 

Chattanooga* 

Knoxville** 

Nashville* 
Texas 

Austin 

Beaumont 

Dallas 

El  Paso 

Fort  Worth 

Galveston 

Houston 

San  Antonio 
Utah 

Salt  Lake  City 

ViBQINIA 

Lynchburg 

Norfolk** 

Richmond** 

Roanoke 
Washington 

Bellingham 

Everett 

North  Yakima 

Seattle* 

Spokane* 

Tacoma* 
West  Virginia 

Charleston 

Wheeling* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS 


361 


Wisconsin 
La  Crosse* 
Madison 


Milwaukee* 
Racine* 


COUNTY  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  HEADQUARTERS 


Illinois 

Lake  County 

Highland  Park 

Lake  Forest 
Woodford  County 

Minonk 
Iowa 

Cherokee  County 

Cherokee 
Page  County 

Clarinda 

Shenandoah 
Kansas 

Montgomery  County 

Independence 
Minnesota 

Goodhue  County 

Red  Wing 
Mower  County 

Austin 


Nebraska 
Hall  County 
Grand  Island 
New  Jebset 

Lakewood  and  Ocean  County 
Lakewood 
New  Yobk 
Chautauqua  County 

Fredonia 
Greene  County 
Tannersville 
Ohio 

Greene  County 
Xenia 
Texas 

Coryell  County 
Gatesville 
Wisconsin 
Dodge  County 
Beaver  Dam 


STUDENT  ASSOCIATIONS 
Alabama 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College   Normal 

Alabama  Central  Female  College  Tuscaloosa 

Alabama  Girls'  Technical  Institute  Montevallo* 

Alabama  Normal  College  for  Girls Livingston* 

Alabama  Synodical  College  for  Women Talladega 

Athens  College Athens* 

Downing  Industrial  School Brewton 

Eighth  District  Agricultural  School   Athens 

First  District  Agricultural  College Jackson* 

Judson  College  Marion 

Lomax-Hannon  High  and  Industrial  School  . .  .Greenville 
Loulie  Compton  Seminary  Birmingham* 


362       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Marion   Seminary Marion* 

Miles  Memorial  College  Birmingham 

Ninth  District  Agricultural  School    Blountsville 

Seventh  District  Agricultural  School   Albertville 

State  Normal  School   Florence 

State  Normal  School    Jacksonville* 

State  Normal  School   Montgomery 

State  Normal  College Troy 

Talladega    College    Talladega 

Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial  Inst Tuskegee 

University  of  Alabama   Tuscaloosa* 

Women's  College  of  Alabama  Montgomery 

Abeansas 

Arkansas  Baptist  College   Little  Rock 

Arkansas  Conference  College  Siloam  Springs 

Central    College    Conway 

Crescent  College  and  Conservatory  for  Women 

Eureka  Springs 

Galloway  College   Searcy 

Henderson  Brown  College   Arkadelphia* 

Philander  Smith  College    Little  Rock 

Second  District  Agricultural  School  Russellville 

State  Agricultural  College   Monticello 

State  Normal  School    Conway 

University  of  Arkansas    Fayetteville* 

Caufobnia 

College  of  Pacific  San  Jos6 

College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons   Los  Angeles 

Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University  ....  Stanford  University* 

Mills   College    Mills   College* 

Occidental  College  Eagle  Rock* 

Pomona  College   Claremont 

Sherman   Institute    Riverside 

State  Normal   School    Chico* 

State  Normal  School    Los  Angeles* 

State  Normal  School   San  Diego 

State  Normal  School  San  Jos6 

University  of  California    Berkeley* 

University  of  Redlands   Redlands 

University  of  So.   Cal Los  Angeles* 

Whittier    College    Whittier* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  368 

Colorado 

Boulder   Preparatory   School    Boulder 

Colorado  College  Colorado  Springs* 

Colorado  Woman's  College Montclair 

State  Agricultural  College  Fort  Collins* 

State  Teachers'  College  Greeley* 

State  High  School   Greeley 

University  of  Colorado    Boulder'' 

University  of  Denver  University  Park* 

Delaware 

Woman's  College Newark 

District  of  Columbia 

Gallaudet  College Washington 

Howard   University    Washington 

Florida 

Baptist  Academy   Jacksonville 

Florida  Agricultui*al  and  Mechanical  College.  .Tallahassee 

Florida  State  College  for  Women   Tallahassee* 

John  B.  Stetson  University   Deland* 

Rollins  College Winter  Park* 

Georgia 

Agnes  Scott  College   Decatur* 

Andrew  College  Cuthbert* 

Atlanta  University Atlanta 

Brenau  College   Gainesville* 

Cox  College College  Park* 

Georgia  Normal  and  Industrial  College Milledgeville* 

Haines  Institute   Augusta 

La  Grange  College La  Grange* 

Lucy  Cobb  Institute   Athens* 

Martha  Berry  School   Mt.  Berry 

Paine  College   Augusta 

Piedmont   College Demorest 

Second  District  Agricultural  School   Tifton 

Shorter    College    Rome* 

South  Georgia  College   McRae 

South  Georgia  State  Normal  Valdosta 

Spelman  Seminary  Atlanta 

State  Normal  School  Athens* 

Vashti  Industrial  School   Thomasville 

Wftsleyan  College   Macon* 


S64       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Idaho 

Academy  of  Idaho   Pocatello 

College  of   Idaho    Caldwell 

Idaho  Industrial  Institute   Weiser 

State  Normal  School   Albion 

University  of  Idaho  Moscow* 

Ilunois 

Bradley  Polytechnic  Institute Peoria* 

Carthage  College    Carthage* 

Eastern  Illinois  State  Normal  School Charleston 

Eureka  College Eureka* 

Ferry  Hall  Lake  Forest* 

Frances  Shimer  School  for  Girls Mt.  Carroll 

Geneseo   Collegiate   Institute    Geneseo 

Grand  Prairie  Seminary  Onarga* 

Hedding   College    Abingdon* 

Illinois  College   Jacksonville* 

Illinois  Women's  College   Jacksonville* 

Illinois  Wesleyan  University Bloomington* 

James   Milliken    University    Decatur* 

Jennings    Seminary    Aurora* 

Knox  College    Galesburg* 

Lake  Forest  College  Lake  Forest* 

Lincoln  College   Lincoln* 

McKendree  College   Lebanon* 

Medical  Women  Students'  Christian  League Chicago 

Monmouth  College Monmouth* 

Northwestern  College   Naperville* 

Northwestern  University  Evanston* 

ShurtleflF  College   Upper  Alton* 

Southern  Collegiate  Institute  Albion* 

Southern  Illinois  State  Normal  University  . .  Carbondale* 

State  Normal  School   De  Kalb 

State  Normal  University  Normal* 

University  of  Chicago    Chicago* 

School  for  Nurses  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  . .  Chicago 

University  of  Illinois Champaign* 

Western  Illinois  State  Normal  School Macomb* 

Wheaton   College    Wheaton* 

William  and  Vashti  College  Aledo 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  365 

Women  Students'  Christian  League  of  the  Physical  Cul- 
ture School  and  College  of  Physcultopathy  . .  Chicago 

Indiana 

Butler  College    Irvington* 

Central  Normal  College    Danville* 

De  Pauw  University  Greencastle* 

Earlham  College   Richmond* 

Franklin  College   Franklin* 

Hanover  College  Hanover* 

Indiana  Central  University    Indianapolis 

Indiana  University   Bloomington* 

Moorea  Hill  College  Moores  Hill* 

Oakland  College  Oakland  City* 

Purdue  University    West  Lafayette 

Spiceland  Academy   Spiceland 

State  Normal  School  Terre  Haute* 

Teachers'  College   Indianapolis 

Union  Christian  College    Merom* 

Valparaiso  University    Valparaiso* 

Winona  College   Winona  Lake 

Iowa 

Amity  High  School  College  Springs* 

Buena  Vista  College Storm  Lake* 

Central  College   Pella* 

Coe  College  Cedar  Rapids* 

Cornell  College   Mt.  Vernon* 

Des  Moines  College Des  Moines* 

Drake  University  . . . ; Des  Moines* 

Ellsworth  College  Iowa  Falls* 

Epworth  Seminary  Epworth* 

Grinnell  College  Grinnell* 

High  School   Grinnell 

High  School    Indianola* 

High  School Iowa  City 

High  School    Knoxville 

High  School    Nevada 

High  School   Toledo* 

Highland  Park  College Des  Moines 

Iowa  State  College    Ames* 

Iowa  State  Teachers'  College Cedar  Falls* 


366        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Iowa  Wesleyan  University    Mt.   Pleasant* 

Leander  Clark  College Toledo* 

Lenox    College    Hopkinton* 

Morningside  College Sioux  City* 

Parsons  College  Fairfield* 

Penn  College   Oskaloosa* 

Simpson  College Indianola* 

State  University  of  Iowa Iowa  City* 

Tabor  College Tabor* 

Upper  Iowa  University Fayette* 

Western  Union  College  Le  Mars* 

EIansas 

Atchison  County  High  School  Efllngham 

Baker  University  Baldwin* 

Bethany  Collie Lindsborg* 

Chase  County  High  School Cottonwood  Falls 

Cherokee  County  High  School  Columbus* 

Clay  County  High  Sdiool Clay  Centre* 

College  of  Emporia Emporia* 

Cooper  College   Sterling* 

Decatur  County  High  School    Oberlin 

Dickinson  County  High  School   Chapman* 

Enterprise  Normal  Academy   Enterprise 

Fairmount  College Wichita* 

Friends  University    Wichita* 

Haskell  Institute Lawrence* 

High  School Arkansas  City 

High  School  Atchison 

High  School  Cheney 

High  School   El  Dorado 

High  School  Lawrence 

High  School   Lyons 

High  School   Minneapolis 

High  School Newton 

High  School   Salina 

High  School    Stafford 

Highland  University  Highland* 

Kansas  City  University Kansas  City* 

Kansas  State  Agricultural  College Manhattan* 

Kansas  State  University   Lawrence* 

Kanias  Wesleyan  University  Salina* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  367 

Kingman  County  High  School   Kingman 

La  Bette  Coimty  High  School Altamont* 

MePherson  College  McPhcrson* 

Montgomery  County  High  School Independence* 

Norton  County  High  School Norton* 

Ottawa  University  Ottawa* 

Pratt  County  High  School  Pratt 

Reno  County  High  School  Nickerson* 

Southwestern  College  Winfield* 

State  Manual  Training  Normal  School  Pittsburg 

State  Normal  School   Emporia* 

Sumner  County  High  School Wellington* 

Topeka  Educational  and  Industrial  Institute Topeka 

Washburn  Academy    Topeka 

Washburn  College  Topeka* 

Western  University Kansas  City 

Kentucky 

Berea  College Berea* 

Georgetown   College    Georgetown 

Hamilton  College  Lexington 

Kentucky  College  for  Women Danville* 

Kentucky  Female  Orphan  School  Midway* 

Kentucky  State  University Lexington* 

Lincoln  Institute  Simpsonville 

Logan  College  Russellville 

Millersburg  Female  College   Miller sburg 

Science  Hill  School Shelbyville 

State  Normal  School  Richmond 

State  University  Louisville 

Sue  Bennett  Memorial  School London* 

Transylvania  University  Lexington* 

Louisiana 

H.  Sophie  Newcomb  Memorial  College New  Orleans* 

Louisiana  Industrial  Institute  Ruston 

Louisiana  State  University   Baton  Rouge 

Mansfield  Female  College  Mansfield 

Silliman  Institute Clinton 

State  Normal  School Natchitoches 

Maine 

Bates  College    Lewiston* 

Coburn  Classical  Institute Waterville* 


368        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Colby  College   WaterviUe* 

East  Maine  Conference  Seminary   Bucksport 

Eastern  State  Normal  School  Castine 

Gould's   Academy    Bethel 

Hebron  Academy   Hebron* 

Higgins  Classical  Institute Charleston 

Maine  Central  Institute Pittsfield 

Maine  Wesleyan  Seminary   Kent's  Hill* 

Oak  Grove  Seminary   Vassalboro 

Parsonfield  Seminary Kezar  Falls 

Ricker  Classical  Institute  Houlton* 

University  of  Maine  Orono 

Mabyland 

Girls'  Latin  School   Baltimore* 

Maryland  College  Lutherville* 

Goucher  College   Baltimore* 

Hood  College   Frederick* 

National  Park  Seminary Forest  Glen 

Western  Maryland  College Westminster* 

Massachusetts 

Boston  University,  College  of  Liberal  Arts Boston* 

Gushing  Academy Ashburnham* 

Emerson  College  of  Oratory  Boston* 

Mt.  Holyoke  College  South  Hadley* 

Mount  Ida  School  for  Girls  Newton 

Newton  Hospital  Training  School  . . .  Newton  Lower  Falls 

Northfield  Seminary   East  Northfield* 

Simmons  College    Boston 

Wellesley  College    (, Wellesley 

Weston  School  for  Girls  Weston 

Michigan 

Adrian  College  Adrian* 

Albion  College  . , Albion* 

Alma   College    Alma* 

Central  State  Normal  School Mt.  Pleasant 

Ferris  Institute  Big  Rapids 

High  School    Ypsilanti 

Hillsdale  College   Hillsdale* 

Hope  College  Holland* 

Kalamazoo  College  Kalamazoo* 

Michigan  Agricultural  College East  Lansing* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  869 

Olivet  College  Olivet* 

State  Normal  College Ypsilanti* 

University  of  Michigan  Ann  Arbor* 

Western  State  Normal  School   Kalamazoo 

Minnesota 

Albert  Lea  College  . : Albert  Lea* 

Carleton  College  Northfield* 

College  of  Agriculture  St.  Paul 

Hamline  University  St.  Paul* 

Macalester  College   St.  Paul* 

Northwest  School  of  Agriculture   Crookston 

Pillsbury  Academy  Owatonna* 

St.  Paul's  College St.  Paul  Park* 

School  of  Agriculture  St.  Paul* 

State  Normal  School   Mankato* 

State  Normal  School   Moorhead 

State  Normal  School  Winona 

University  of  Minnesota  Minneapolis* 

West  Central  School  of  Agriculture Morris 

Windom  Institute   Montevideo* 

Mississippi 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  Alcorn 

Agricultural  High  School Oakland 

Belhaven  Collegiate  Industrial  Institute Jadcson 

Grenada  College   Grenada 

Industrial  Institute  and  College Columbus* 

Jackson  College Jackson 

Mississippi  Normal  College   Hattiesburg 

Mississippi  Synodical  College   Holly  Springs* 

Pearl  River  County  Agricultural  High  School  . .  Poplarville 

Rust  College Holly  Springs 

Southern  Christian  Institute  Edwards 

Tougaloo  University   Tougaloo 

University  of  Mississippi University* 

Utica  Institute   Utica 

Whitworth  College   Brookhaven* 

Woman's  College Meridian 

Missouri 

American  School  of  Osteopathy  Kirksville* 

Carleton  College  Farmington 

Central  College   Fayette 


370        FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Central  College   Lexington* 

Central  Wesleyan  College  Warrenton* 

"^^  Christian  College Columbia 

Cottey  College Nevada* 

Drury  College    Springfield* 

Forest  Park  University  St.  Louis 

George  R.  Smith  College Sedalia 

''**»  Hardin  College  Mexico* 

High  School  Kirksville* 

Howard  Payne  College Fayette* 

Iberia  Academy Iberia* 

Kidder  Institute    Kidder* 

Lexington    College    Lexington* 

Lincoln  Institute   Jefferson  City 

Lindenwood  College  St.  Charles* 

Missouri  Valley  College  Marshall* 

Missouri  Wesleyan  College Cameron* 

Northwest  State  Normal  School Maryville* 

Park  College  Parkville* 

Scarritt  Morrisville  College Morrisville 

South  West  Baptist  College  Bolivar 

Southeastern  State  Normal  School Cape  Girardeau* 

State  Normal  School    Kirksville* 

State  Normal  School   Springfield* 

State  Normal  School    Warrensburg* 

Stephens  College    Columbia* 

Synodical  College  Fulton* 

Tarkio  College    Tarkio* 

University  of  Missouri Columbia* 

Washington  University St.  Louis 

William  Woods  College  Fulton* 

Montana. 

Montana  Wesleyan  University  Helena* 

State  Agricultural  College Bozeman* 

State  Normal  School   Dillon 

University  of  Montana  Missoula* 

Nebraska 

Bellevue  College    Bellevue* 

Cotner  University Lincoln* 

Doane  College   Crete* 

Franklin  Academy   Franklin* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  371 

rremont  Normal  School Fremont* 

Grand  Island  College Grand  Island* 

Hastings  College Hastings* 

High  School  Franklin 

High  School    Seward 

Nebraska  Central  College  Central  City* 

Nebraska  Wesleyan  University University  Place* 

Santee  Normal  Training  School  Santee 

School  of  Agriculture   Lincoln 

State  Normal  School    Chadron 

State  Normal  School    Kearney* 

State  Normal  School   Peru* 

State  Normal  School     Wayne 

Teachers'  College  High  School  Lincoln 

University  of  Nebraska Lincoln* 

University  of  Omaha   Omaha 

York  College York* 

Nevada 

Carson  Indian  School  Stewart 

State  University Reno* 

New  Hampshire 

Colby  Academy New  London 

New  Hampshire  College  Durham 

Sanborn  Seminary Kingston* 

State  Normal  School   Plymouth 

Tilton   Seminary    Tilton* 

New  Jersey 

Centenary  Collegiate  Institute Hackettstown* 

State  Normal  School  Trenton* 

New  Mexico 

College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Art&  . .  State  College 

Indian  School   Albuquerque 

University  of  New  Mexico Albuquerque 

New  York 

Adelphi  Academy  Brooklyn* 

Alfred  University   Alfred* 

Barnard  College  New  York  City* 

The  Castle,  Miss  Mason's  School Tarrytown 

Cazenovia  Seminary  Cazenovia* 

Cornell  University   Ithaca* 

Elmira  College  , , , , ,  Elmira* 


372       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Genesee  Wesleyan  Seminary Lima* 

Horace  Mann  School New  York  City 

Hunter  College  New  York  City 

Keuka  College  and  Institute  Keuka 

Mechanics  Institute Rochester 

Central  Club  for  Nurses  New  York  City 

Studio  Club New  York  City 

St.  Lawrence  University   Canton 

State  College  for  Teachers   Albany* 

State  Normal  School  Fredonia* 

State  Normal  School New  Paltz* 

State  School  of  Agriculture  Alfred 

Syracuse   University    Syracuse* 

Teachers*  College,  Columbia  University  . .  .New  York  City 

University  of  Rochester Rochester* 

NoBTH  Carolina 

Bennett  College Greensboro 

Brevard  Institute Brevard* 

Carolina  College   Maxton 

Davenport  College    Lenoir* 

East  Carolina  Teachers'  Training  School   Greenville 

Elizabeth  College Charlotte* 

Elon  College   Elon* 

Greensboro  College  for  Women  Greensboro* 

Guilford  College    Guilford* 

Joseph  K.  Bricks  School  Bricks 

Lincoln   Academy    King's  Mountain 

Linwood  College Gastonia* 

Littleton  College    Littleton 

Louisburg  College  for  Women Louisburg* 

Meredith  College  Raleigh* 

Morrison  Industrial  School  Franklin 

National  Religious  Training  School  Durham 

Normal  and  Collegiate  Institute Asheville* 

Normal  and  Collegiate  Institute Albemarle 

Oxford  College   Oxford* 

Peace    Institute    Raleigh* 

Queens  College  Charlotte* 

Salem   College    Winston-Salem 

Shaw  University  Raleigh 

Southern  Presbyterian  College  Red  Springs* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  373 

State  Normal  College Greensboro* 

State  School  for  the  Blind  Raleigh* 

Statesville  Female  College   Statesville 

NoBTH  Dakota 

Fargo  College  Fargo* 

Jamestown  College  Jamestown 

New  Rockf ord  Collegiate  Institute New  Rockf ord 

State  Agricultural  College Fargo* 

State  Normal  Industrial  School Ellendale* 

State  Normal  School   Mayville* 

State  Normal  School    Minot 

State  Normal  School Valley  City* 

University  of  North  Dakota University* 

Ohio 

Ashland  College   Ashland* 

Baldwin-Wallace  College    Berea 

Bluffton  College  Bluflfton 

Bonebrake  Theological  Seminary   Dayton 

Cedarville  College   Cedarville 

Cincinnati  Conservatory  of  Music Cincinnati 

College  of  Wooster   Wooster* 

Defiance  College  Defiance* 

Denison  University Granville* 

Findlay  College Findlay* 

Franklin  College New  Athens* 

Glendale  College    Glendale* 

Heidelberg  University    Tiffin* 

Hiram  College   Hiram* 

Lake  Erie  College Painesville* 

Lebanon  University Lebanon* 

Marietta  College  Marietta* 

Miami  University Oxford* 

Mount  Union  Scio  College Alliance* 

Municipal  University  of  Akron  Akron 

Muskingum  College New  Concord* 

Oberlin   College    Oberlin* 

Ohio  Northern  University Ada* 

Ohio  Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Orphans'  Home Xenia 

Ohio  State  University  Columbus* 

Ohio  University   Athens* 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University  Delaware* 


374       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Otterbein  University  Westerville* 

Oxford  College    Oxford* 

Savannah  Academy  Savannah* 

State  Normal  School   Kent 

University  of  Cincinnati Cincinnati* 

Western  College   Oxford* 

Western  Reserve  University  Cleveland* 

Wilberforce  University Wilberforce* 

Wilmington  College    Wilmington* 

Wittenberg  College  Springfield* 

Oklahoma 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  Stillwater* 

Agricultural  and  Normal  University   Langston 

Bacone  College   Bacone* 

Central  State  Normal  College   Edmond* 

East  Central  State  Normal  School  Ada 

Euf aula  Boarding  School  Euf aula 

Henry  Kendall  College  Tulsa 

High  School Tulsa 

Indian    School    Chilocco 

Kingfisher  College   Kingfisher 

Methodist  University  of  Oklahoma   Guthrie* 

Northwestern  Normal  School   Alva* 

Oklahoma  College  for  Women    Chickasha 

Oklahoma  Institute  of  Technology  Tonkawa* 

Oklahoma  Presbyterian  College  Durant 

Phillips  University   Enid 

Southwestern  Normal  School W>atherf ord* 

Tuskahoma  Female  Seminary  Tuskahoma 

University  of  Oklahoma Norman* 

Wheelock  Academy   Millerton 

Obegon 

Albany  College  Albany* 

High  School Dallas 

High  School    Eugene 

McMinnville  College    McMinnville 

Oregon  Agricultural  College  Corvallis* 

Pacific  College  Newberg* 

Pacific  University Forest  Grove* 

Philomath  College  Philomath* 

Salem  Indian  Training  School  Chcmawa 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  'S75 

State  Normal  School Monmouth 

University  of  Oregon  Eugene* 

Willamette  University  Salem* 

Pennsylvania 

Albright  College   Myerstown* 

Allegheny  College   Meadville* 

Beaver  College   Beaver* 

Beechwood  College Jenkintown 

Birmingham  School  for  Girls Birmingham* 

Bucknell  University Lewisburg* 

Central  State  Normal  School Lock  Haven* 

Cumberland  Valley  State  Normal   Shippensburg* 

Darlington  Seminary West  Chester* 

Dickinson  College Carlisle* 

Dilworth  Hall    Pittsburg 

Friends'   School    Germantown 

Geneva  College Beaver  Falls 

Grove  City  College Grove  City* 

Indian  School    Carlisle 

Irving  College  Mechanicsburg* 

Juniata  College Huntingdon 

Keystone  State  Normal  School   Kutztown* 

Lebanon  Valley  College  Annville* 

Moravian  Seminary  and  College  for  Women  — .Bethlehem 

Penn  Hall  Chambersburg 

Pennsylvania  College  for  Women Pittsburgh* 

Pennsylvania  Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art 

Philadelphia 

Perkiomen  Seminary  Pennsberg* 

Philadelphia  College  of  Osteopathy   Philadelphia 

Shippen  School    Lancaster 

Southwestern  State  Normal  School  California* 

State  College State  College 

State  Normal  ScJiool Bloomsburg* 

State  Normal  School Clarion* 

State  Normal  School  East  Stroudsburg 

State  Normal  School Edinboro* 

State  Normal  School Indiana* 

State  Normal  School Mansfield* 

State  Normal  School Millersville* 

State  Normal  School West  Chester* 


S76       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Stevens  School   Germantown 

Susquehanna  University Selins  Grove 

Swarthmore  College Swarthmore 

University  of  Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh 

Ursinus  College    Collegeville 

Walnut  Lane  School Germantowii 

Washington  Seminary   Washington 

Waynesburg  College Waynesburg* 

Westminster  College  New  Wilmington* 

Williamsport  Dickinson  Seminary  Williamsport* 

Wilson   College    , Chambersburg* 

Women's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  . .  Philadelphia* 
Wyoming  Seminary  Kingston* 

Rhode  Island 

East  Greenwich  Academy   East  Greenwich 

South  Carolina 

Allen  University   Columbia 

Anderson  College  Anderson 

Benedict  College Columbia 

Chicora  College Greenville 

Clallin  University   Orangeburg 

Clifford  Seminary   Union 

Coker  College  for  Women Hartsville 

College  for  Women   Columbia 

Columbia  College  Columbia* 

Confederate  Home  College   Charleston* 

Converse  College    Spartanburg* 

Erskine  College Due  West* 

Greenville  Female  College   Greenville* 

Lander  College  Greenwood* 

Limestone  College  Gaffney* 

Penn.  Normal  and  Agricultural  School  .  .St.  Helena  Island 

Sterling  Industrial  College    Greenville 

Winthrop  Normal  and  Industrial  College Rock  Hill* 

Woman's  College Due  West* 

South  Dakota 

Dakota  Wesleyan  University   Mitchell* 

High  School    Mitchell* 

Hope  School  Springfield 

Huron  College  Huron* 

Indian  School   Rapid  City 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  377 

Northern  Normal  and  Industrial  School  Aberdeen* 

Redfield  College   Redfield 

Riggs  Institute  Flandreau 

Sioux  Falls  College Sioux  Falls 

State  Agricultural  College Brookings* 

State  Normal  School  Spearfish 

State  Normal  School  Springfield* 

University  of  South  Dakota  Vermillion* 

Yankton  College   Yankton* 

Tennessee 

Agricultural  and  Industrial  State  Normal  School . . . 

Nashville 

Buf ord  College  Nashville 

Carson  and  Newman  College Jefferson  City* 

Centenary  College  Cleveland 

Cumberland  University    Lebanon* 

East  Tennessee  Normal  School  Johnson  City 

Fisk  University   Nashville 

Grandview  Normal  Institute  Grandview 

Knoxville  College Knoxville 

Lane  College  Jackson 

Lincoln  County  High  School  Fayetteville 

Lincoln  Memorial  University  Hurrogate 

McFerrin  School    Martin 

Martin  College    Pulaski 

Maryville  College Maryville* 

Middle  Tennessee  Normal  Murf reesboro 

Morristown  Normal  College   Morristown 

Radnor   College    Nashville 

Roger  Williams  University    Nashville 

Tusculum  College   Tusculum* 

University  of  Chattanooga Chattanooga* 

University  of  Tennessee   Knoxville* 

Ward-Belmont  College   Nashville* 

West  Tennessee  State  Normal  School Memphis 

Texas 

Baylor  University    Waco 

Bishop   College    Marshall 

Clarendon  College Clarendon 

College  of  Industrial  Arts Denton* 

Coronal  Institute   San  Marcos* 


S7S       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Daniel  Baker  College Brownwood* 

Houston   College    Houston 

Howard  Payne  College  Brownwood* 

North  Texas  College   Sherman 

North  Texas  State  Normal  School  Denton 

Phillips   University    Tyler 

Prairie  View  Normal  and  Industrial  College . .  Prairie  View 

Rice   Institute    Houston 

Sam  Houston  Normal  Institute Huntsville* 

Simmons  College  Abilene 

Southwest  Texas  State  Normal  School San  Marcos* 

Southwestern  University   Georgetown 

State  School  for  the  Blind Austin* 

Texas  Christian  University Fort  Worth* 

Texas  Fairmont  Seminary Weatherf ord 

Texas  Presbyterian  College   Milford 

Texas  Woman's  College Fort  Worth 

Tillotson  College    Austin 

Trinity  University   Waxahachie* 

University  of  Texas    Austin* 

West  Texas  State  Normal  School Canyon 

Vermont 

Burr  and  Burton  Seminary Manchester 

Middlebury  Collie   Middlebury* 

Montpelier  Seminary   Montpelier 

Troy  Conference  Academy Poultney* 

University  of  Vermont   Burlington* 

Virginia 

Blackstone  Female  Institute Blackstone* 

Eastern  College  Manassas* 

Hollins   College    Hollins* 

Martha  Washington  College  Abingdon 

Mary  Baldwin  Seminary   Staunton* 

Miller  Manual  Labor  School  Miller  School* 

Normal  and  Industrial  Institute   Ettricks 

Oak  Park  Institute Oak  Park 

Randolph-Macon   Institute    Danville 

Randolph-Macon  Woman's  College  Lynchburg* 

Roanoke  Institute   Danville 

Shenandoah  Collegiate  Institute  Dayton 

Southern  Seminary  Buena  Vista* 


LIST  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  379 

State  Normal  School East  Radford 

State  Normal  School  , Farmville* 

State  Normal  School   Fredericksburg 

State  Normal  and  Industrial  School    Harrisonburg 

Stonewall  Jackson  Institute  Abingdon* 

Sullins  College  Bristol* 

Sweet  Briar  College Sweet  Briar 

Virginia  College    Roanoke* 

Virginia  Interment  College  Bristol* 

Virginia  School  for  the  Deaf  and  Blind Staunton 

Westhampton  College Richmond 

Williamsburg  Institute Williamsburg 

Woman's  College Richmond* 

Washington 

Cushman  Indian  School   Tacoma 

State  Normal  School Bellingham* 

State  Normal  School Cheney* 

State  Normal  School    Ellensburg 

University  of  Puget  Sound .Tacoma* 

University  of  Washington   Seattle* 

Washington  State  College Pullman* 

Whitman  College   Walla  Walla* 

Whitworth  College   Spokane* 

West  Vibginia 

Bethany  College Bethany* 

Broaddus  Institute    Philippi 

Concord  State  Normal  School Athens* 

High  School   Fairmont 

Keyser  Preparatory  School   Keyser* 

Lewisburg  Seminary   Lewisburg* 

Marshall  College   Huntington* 

Morris  Harvey  College Barboursville 

Salem  College  Salem 

Shepherd  College  Shepherdstown* 

State  Normal  School   Fairmont 

State  Normal  School  Glenville 

State  Normal  School West  Liberty 

West  Virginia  Collegiate  Institute Institute 

West  Virginia  University  Morgantown* 

West  Virginia  Wesleyan  College  Buckhannou* 


380       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Wisconsin 

Beloit  College  Beloit* 

Carroll  College  Waukesha* 

Indian  School    Tomah 

Indian  School    Wittenberg 

Lawrence  College   Appleton* 

Milton   College    Milton 

Milwaukee-Downer  College   Milwaukee* 

Northland  College    Ashland 

Ripon  College  Ripon* 

State  Normal  School La  Crosse 

State  Normal  School    Milwaukee 

State  Normal  School    Oshkosh 

State  Normal  School  Platteville* 

State  Normal  School    River   Falls* 

State  Normal  School    Stevens  Point* 

State  Normal  School    Superior 

State  Normal  School    Whitewater* 

Stout  Institute  Menomonie 

University  of  Wisconsin    Madison* 

Wayland  Academy Beaver  Dam* 

Wyoming 

University  of  Wyoming  Laramie* 

PoBTo  Rico 

Presbyterian  Hospital  San  Juan 

NATIONAL  BOARD 
Of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the 

United  States  of  America 

* 

600  Lexington  Avenue 

New  York  City 

Telephone,  6000  Plaza  Cable  Address,  Outpost,  New  York 

OFFICERS 
Mrs.  Robert  E.  Speer,  President 

Mrs.  John  French,  Chairman  Executive  Committee 
Mrs.  James  S.  Cushman,  First  Vice-President 

Mrs.  William  W.  Rossiter,  Second  Vice-President 
Mrs.  Thomas  S.  Gladding,  Secretary 

Mrs.  Samuel  J.  Broadwell.  Treasurer 


NATIONAL  BOARD  AND  STAFF 


381 


Miss  Annie  M.  Reynolds,  Chairman  Department  of  Field  Work 
*Miss  Elizabeth  W.  Dodge,  Chairman  Department  Conventions 

and  Conferences 
Miss  Annie  M.  Reynolds,  Chairman  Secretarial  Depa/rtment 
Mrs.  W.  W.  Rockwell,  Chairman  Publication  Department 
Mrs.  Dave  Hennen  Morris,  Chairman  Finance  Department 
Mrs.  G.  K.  Swinburne,  Chairman  Office  Department 
Mrs.  Charlton  Wallace,  Chairman  Department  of  Method 
Mrs.  James  M.  Speers,  Chairman  Town  and  Country 

Committee 
Mrs.  Charles  N.  Judson,  Chairman  City  Committee 
Miss   Gertrude    E.    MacArthur,    Vice-Chairman    City 

Committee 
Miss  Clara  Stillman  Reed,  Chairman  Student  Com- 
mittee 
Mrs.  Augustus  B.  Wadsworth,  Chairman  Foreign  Department 
Mrs.  Samuel  Murtland,  Chairman  Buildings  Committee 


*Mr8.  Elizabeth  P.  Allan 

Mrs.  R.  C.  Jenkinson 

*Mrs.  E.  B.  Burwell 

Mrs.  Seabury  Cone  Mastick 

Mrs.  Edward  S.  Campbell 

Mrs.  Frederick  Mead 

Miss  Maude  Daeniker 

Mrs.  John  R.  Mott 

Mrs.  Henry  P.  Davison 

*Mr8.  Warren  Olney,  Jr. 

Mrs.  R.  A.  Dorman 

*Mr8.  R.  H.  Passmore 

Miss  Leila  S.  Frissell 

Mrs.  Francis  B.  Sayre 

*Mrs.  John  M.  Hanna 

Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard 

*Mrs.  J.  H.  Hoskins 

*Miss  Helen  M.  A.  Taylor 

Mrs.  Clarence  M.  Hyde 

*Mrs.  George  Vaux,  Jr. 

Mrs.  Francis  de  Lacy  Hyde 

*Mr8.  William  Shaw  Ward 

AUXiUARY 

MEMBERS 

Mrs.  Lemuel  Bolton  Bangs 

Miss  Anna  C.  McClintock 

Mrs.  F.  S.  Bennett 

Miss  Florence  M.  Marshall 

Mrs.  Robert  L.  Dickinson 

Miss  Margaret  Mead 

Mrs.  William  Francis  Domi- 

Mrs.  James  Pedersen 

nick 

Mrs.  Arthur  G.  Stone 

Mrs.  Charles  H.  Ferry 

Mrs.  Warren  H.  Wilson 

*  Field  representatives. 


S82       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

BOARD   OF  TBUSTEES 

Mr.  Alfred  E,  Marling,  Mrs.  Dave  Hennen  Morris 

Chairman  Mr.  Stephen  Baker 

Mr.  Wm.  D.  Murray,  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard 

Secretary  Mrs.  Clarence  M.  Hyd& 

Mr.  Wm.  M.  Kingsley,  Mr.  Samuel  Sloan,  Jr. 
Treasurer 


FIELD  COMMITTEES 

Mrs.  C.  C.  Bullock,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Irwin  Rew,  Treaswrer, 
Central 

Mrs.  George  Vaux,  Jr.,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Wm.  L.  McLean, 
Treasurer^   Delaware,  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 

Mrs.  Charles  P.  Noyes,  Chairman;  Mrs.  W.  O.  Winston, 
Treasurer,  North  Central 

Miss  Elizabeth  Dodge,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Stanley  Rumbough, 
Treasurer,  Northeastern 

Mrs.  E.  B.  Burwell,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Charles  Denny,  Treas- 
urer, Northwestern 

Miss  Helen  M.  A.  Taylor,  Chairman;  Mrs.  F.  D.  Phinney, 
Treasurer,  Ohio  and  West  Virginia 

Mrs.  Warren  Olney,  Jr.,  Chairman;  Mrs.  A.  Crawford  Greene, 
Treasurer,  Pacific  Coast 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Preston  Allan,  Chairman;  Mrs.  Joseph  C. 
Patton,  Treasurer,  South  Atlantic 

Mrs.  D.  S.  Brown,  Chairman;  Mrs.  C.  C.  Rainwater,  Treas- 
urer, South  Central 

Mrs.  John  M,  Hanna,  Chairman;  Mrs.  W.  D,  Felder,  Treas- 
urer, Southwestern 

Mrs.  William  Shaw  Ward,  Chairman;  Mrs.  C.  A.  Graham, 
Treasurer,  West  Central 

SECRETARIAL  STAFF 

NATIONAL  BOARD  OF  THE  YOUNG  WOMEN'S 

CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

Headquartebs  Secretaries 

Mabel  Cratty,  General  Secretary 

Isabel  Norton,  Secretary  to  the  General  Secretary 

Rebecca  F.  McKillip,  Social  Secretary 


NATIONAL  BOARD  AND  STAFF          383 


Henrietta  Roelofs,  Special  Worker 
Helen  A.  Ballard,  Publicity  Secretary 
Mrs.  Isabella  H.  Santee,  Buildings  Manager 


SECRETARIAL  DEPARTMENT 

Elizabeth  Wilson,  Executive 
Edith    N.    Stanton,    Director 

Bureau  of  Reference 
Nellie  Starr  Stevens,  Office 
Caroline    B.    Dow,    Dean    of 

Training  System 
Elizabeth  L.  Dean,  Assistant 

to  the  Dean 
Mary  Scott,  Registrar 
Grace  Quackenbush,  Bursar 

FINANCE  DEPARTMENT 

Harriet  Taylor,  Acting  Execu- 
tive 

Ella  Schooley,  Finance  Secre- 
tary 

Helen  Sanger,  Office  Executive 

Jessie  MacKinlay,  Cashier 
and  Bursar 

DEPARTMENT  OF  CONVENTIONS 
AND   CONFERENCES 

Mabel  Cratty,  Acting  Execu- 
tive 
Louise  W.  Brooks,  Student 
Bertha  W.  Seely,  Office 

PUBLICATION  DEPARTMENT 

iMary  Louise  Allen,  Executive 

Helen  Thoburn,  Editorial  Sec- 
retary 

Rhoda  E.  McCuUoch,  Edi- 
torial Secretary 

A.  Estella  Paddock,  Editorial 
Secretary 

Margaret  Cook,  Business 
Manager 


OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 

Margaret  F.  MacKinlay,  Ex- 
ecutive 

(Office  Secretaries   listed 
under  departments) 

FOREIGN  DEPARTMENT 

Clarissa  H.  Spencer,  Acting 
Executive 

Susan  M.  Clute,  Office  Execu- 
tive 

DEPARTMENT    OF    FIELD    WORK 

Helen  A.   Davis,  Executive 
Katharine  Scott,  Office  Execu- 
tive 

DEPARTMENT   OF    METHOD 

Louise  Holmquist,  Executive 

Elizabeth  Boies,  Office  Execu- 
tive 

Bertha  Cond€,  Senior  Student 
Secretary 

Mabel  T.  Everett,  Student 
Office  Executive 

Mary  S.  Sims,  City  Office  Ex- 
ecutive 

Leslie  Blanchard,  State  Uni- 
versities 

Eva  D.  Bowles,  Colored  Work, 
Cities 

Mrs.  Harry  M.  Bremer,  Immi- 
gration Work 

Anna  L  Brown,  Physical 
Education  and  Hygiene 

Oolooah  Burner,  Church 
Schools 


384       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Margaret  Burton,  Missionary   Gertrude    E.    Griffith,    Girls* 

Interests  Work 

Eliza    R.    Butler,    Secondary  Josephine  V.  Pinyon,  Colored 

Schools  Schools 

Ethel  Cutler,  Religious  Work,   Anna     V.      Rice,      Religious 

Student  and  Country  Work,  City 

Edith      M.      Dabb,      Indian   Anna  Seaburg,  Large  Towns 

Schools  Florence     Simms,     Industrial 

Jessie  Field,  Toum  and  Coun-       Work 

try  Helen  L.  Thomas,  Education 

Blanche      Geary,      Economic 

Work 

Field  Secretabies 
PACIFIC  COAST  Caroline  Foresman,  County 

...               ^  ...      .         ^^  Marjorie  M.  Persons,  OMce 
(Arizona,      California,      Ne- 
vada.) NORTH  CENTRAL 

319  Rubs  Building,  (lowa,  Minnesota,  Nebraska, 

San  Francisco,  Cal.  North  and  South  Dakota.) 

Lillian  E.  Janes,  Executive  412  Flour  Exchange, 

Alice  Moore,  Oirls'  Work  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Sarah  Oddie,  County  Mrs.  Emma  F.  Byers,  Execu- 

Mary  I.   Bentley,  Student  tive 

Helen        Topping,        Special  ,  City 

Worker  Clara  I.  Taylor,  Industrial — 

Kathleen      I.      Bartholomew,  Extension 

Office  Margaret  O'Connell,   County 

Adelia  Dodge,  Student 
Josephine  Lynch,  Student 

«««  ,XT.,,                 «   .,,.  Edith  Hclmer,  Student 

630  Witherspoon  Building,  jj^^.j^^  j^  Cunningham,  Office 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mary  Johns  Hopper,   Execu-  southwestern 

tive  (New      Mexico,      Oklahoma, 

Lucy    P.    earner,    Assistant  Texas.) 

Executive  512  Sumpter  Bldg., 

Caroline        Jones,        Special  Dallas,  Tex. 

Worker  Mabel  K.  Stafford,  Executive 

Anna  Owers,  Industrial — Ex-  Mildred  Corbett,  City 

tension  Marguerite  Stuart,  Student 

Anna  G.  Seesholtz,  Student  Helen  S.  Whiting,  Office 


DELAWARE,    MARYLAND  AND 
PENNSYLVANIA 


NATIONAL  BOARD  AND  STAFF         385 


NORTHWESTEBN 

(Idaho,      Montana,      Oregon, 
Washington.) 

Fifth  Ave.  and  Seneca  St., 
Seattle,  Wash. 
Jane  Scott,  Executive 
Grace  Maxwell,  City 
Eleanor  Hopkins,  Student 
Van  S.  Lindsley,  Office 

WEST   CENTBAL 

( Colorado,      Kansas,      Utah, 
Wyoming. ) 

321  McClintock  Bldg., 
Denver,  Colo. 
Marcia  O.  Dunham,  Executive 
M.  Frances  Cross,  City 
Lucy  Y.  Riggs,  Student 
Katharine  Halsey,  Student 
Ethel  Adams,  Office 

SOUTH  ATLANTIC 

(Florida,  Georgia,  North  and 

South  Carolina,  Virginia.) 

512  Commercial  Bank  Bldg., 

Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Amy  Smith,  Executive 

Ada  Starkweather,   City  cmd 

Industrial 
Mabel  E.  Stone,  Student 
Willie  Young,  Student 
Carrie  McLean,  Office 

CENTBAL 

(Illinois,  Indiana,   Michigan, 
Wisconsin. ) 

58  East  Washington  St., 
Chicago,   111. 
Ida  V.  Jontz,  Executive 
Elva  Sly,  City 


Gertrude  Gogin,  Industrial — 

Extension 
Maud  Tr^o,  County 
Mary  Corbett,  Student 
Eleanor  Richardson,  Student 
Elcy  McCausey,  Office 

SOUTH  CENTRAL 

( Alabama,     Arkansas,     Ken- 
tucky,    Louisiana,     Missis- 
sippi, Missouri,  Tennessee.) 
1411   Locust  St., 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Elizabeth  MacFarland,  Execu- 
tive 
Charlotte  Davis,  City 
Ina  Scher rebeck,  Student 
Frances  Y.  Smith,  Student 
Sara  Foster,  Office 

OHIO    AND    WEST  VIBGINIA 

1211  First  National  Bank 
Building, 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Elizabeth  Hughes,  Executive 
Harriet  Harrison,  City 
Constance  MacCorkle,  Indus- 
trial— Extension 
Mabel  H.  Ward,  Student 
Margaret  Brown  Moore,  Office 

NOBTHEASTEBN 

(New   England,   New  Jersey, 
New  York.) 

600  Lexington  Ave., 
New  York  City 
Pauline  Sage,  Executive 
Lena  M.  Farrar,  City 
Mary  A.  Dingman,  Industrial 
— Extension 


386       FIFTY  YEARS  OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 


Anna  M.  Pyott,  Industrial —  Helen  Farquhar,  Student 

Extension  Lucy   T.    Bartlett,    Office  Ex- 

Anna,  M.  Clark,  County  ecutive 

Margaret  Flenniken,  Student 

Amebican  Secbetaeies  on  Foreign  Field 


INDIA 

Florence  Bodley  Lang, 
Myra  Withers, 

170  Hornby  Road,  Bombay 
Martha  C.  Whealdon, 

Wellington  Linear  Bombay 
Beatrice  Cron, 
Mary  E.  Rutherford, 

IS^      Corporation      Street, 
Calcutta 
Florence  Denison, 

y.  W.  C.  A.,  Lahore 
Lela    Guitner     (on    leave    of 

absence) 
Martha  Downey, 
Margery  Melcher, 

Poonamallee  Road,  Madras, 
N.  C. 
Laura  Radford, 

8i/ngapore,    Straits    Settle- 
ment 

CHINA 

Abby  Shaw  Mayhew, 
Grace  L.  Coppock, 
Freeda  Boss, 
Ruth  Paxson, 

Box   713    American   P.    0., 
Shanghai 
Harriet  L.  Boutelle, 
Jessie  K.  Angell, 
Jean  Paxton, 

cr.  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Canton 
Helen  Bond  Crane, 
Helen  Harshaw, 


Ponasang,  Foochow 
Theresa  Severin, 
Lilly  K.  Haass, 
Harriet  M.  Smith, 
Catharine  Vance, 

cr.  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Peking 
Jane  S.  Ward, 
Henrietta  Thomson, 
Edith  Sawyer, 

10  West  End  Lane,  Sha/nghai 
Katharine  King, 
Edith  May  Wells, 

cr.  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Tientsin 

JAPAN 

Ruth  Emerson, 
Ruth  Ragan, 

12  Tamachi  Sanohome,  Us- 
higome,   Tokyo 
Margaret  Matthew, 
Mary  Page, 

41    Sanbancho    Koiimachi' 
Ku,  Tokyo 
Mary  C.  Baker, 

51  Main  St.,  Yokohama 

SOUTH   AMERICA 

Irene  Sheppard, 
Persis  M.  Breed, 
Elisa  Cortez, 

Calle  San  Martin  2^3 
Buenos  Aires,  Argentina 

TURKEY 

Frances  C.  Gage, 

cr.    Constantinople    College, 
Constantinople 


INDEX 


Adam,    Kev.    John    Douglas, 
235 

Adams,  Annie  L.  (Baird),  72 

Adams,     Charlotte     H.,     73, 
105,  250 

Adolescent  Girl,  The,  298 

Albion      College,      Michigan, 
128,  132 

Aleott,  Louisa  May,  5 

Allen,  Mrs.  Dudley  P.,  227 

Allen,    Lou    (Gregory),    96 

Alliance      Employment      Bu- 
reau, 213 

Altamont,  291 

Althouse,  Carrie,  122 

Alumnae  in  state  conventions, 
131 
in  religious  and  social  serv- 
ice, 273 

American  department  of  the 
World's  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  188 

American     Committee,      183- 
195 
irica 
103 

Ames,  Iowa,  95 

Amity  Place,  N.  Y.  City,  25 

Anderson,     Esther     L.,     190, 
311 

Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,    123 

Annual  Members,  275 

Appleton,   Wisconsin,   122 

Argentina,  The,  303 

Arkansas,  238 

Armstrong,  Mary,  152 


387 


Asbury  Park,  78 

Asheville,  246 

Asilomar,  247,  321 

Associated   Charities,   56 

Association  House,  70 

Association  Idea,  8 

/See  also  Purpose  of  Asso- 
ciation 

"Association    Monthly,    The," 
234 

Atlanta  Conference,  272 

Augusta,  Georgia,  Y.   W.   C. 
A.,  283 

Aurora  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  70,  283 

Australasia,  311 


B 


Bacon,  Mrs.  N.  B.,  240 
Bainbridge,   Mrs.  W.   S.,   192 
Baker,  Mrs.  Stephen,  228 
Balfour,  Lady  Frances,   102 
Baltimore   Y.   W.    C.   A.,   83, 

87,   104,  217 
Bangs,  Dr.  Nathan,  22 
Barnes,   Helen    F.,    157,    190, 

294,  311 
Barnes,   Dr.  Ida  C,  240 
Barnet,    England,   9 
Barrows,  Anna,  46 
Basis  of  Active  Membership, 

221-222 
Bates,  Eula    (Lee),  72,   133 
Batty,  Emma  Jean,   307 
Bay  View  Assembly,    175 
Bay  View  Cottage,   172 
Beach,  Rev.  Harlan  P.,   180 


388 


INDEX 


Beech,  M.,  121 
Benfey,  Ida   (Judd),  177 
Bennett,  Estelle,   152 
Berlin,  Germany,  260 
Bernadotte,  Prince,  147 
jBerninger,      Martha       (Mrs. 

Thomas  Kydd),  189,  306, 

308 
OBevier  Bell  (Isabel),  131 
Bible  Classes,  34,  46,  67-71, 

141 
Bible  Reading,  69 
Billings,    Mary     (Mrs.    John 

French),  228 
Birmingham,    England,    20 
Bishop,  Isabella  Bird,  314 
Blodgett,  Mary  E.,  44,  45 
Bloomington,     Illinois,     114, 

128,  132,  173 
Boarding  Homes,  34,   76-78 
Boarding  Places,  32 
Boies,  Col.  H.  M.,  240 
Boies,   Mrs.   Henry   M.,   228, 

240 
Bonar,  Mrs.  Horatius,  10 
Boston  Y.   W.   C.   A.,  29-49, 

65,    80,    90,    91,    95,    96, 

100,  102,  159 
BoBworth,   Professor  Edward 

I.,  250 
Boulton,    Mrs.    William    B., 

228 
Boyd,  Mrs.  Lucretia,  29 
Bradford,  Mrs.  L.  P.,  133 
Bradley,  James  A.,  78 
Branches — not     departments, 

11 
Bridges,        Frances        (Mrs. 

George     H.      Atkinson), 

190 
Brinton  Hall,  151 
Bristol,  England,  20 
British     American     Associa- 
tion, see   Paris,   France 
Broadus,  Dr.  John  A.,  123 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  22 


Broadwell,  Mrs.  S.  J.,  227 
Brockman,  Fletcher   S.,  305 
Brooklyn  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  70,  98, 

101,  282,  283 
Brown,  Dr.  Anna  L.,  73,  203, 

219,  263 
Brown,  Ida  E.    (Mrs.  James 

Gary),  116 
Brown,   Lida    (Mrs.   William 

P.  McMurry),  115,  116 
Browne,  Mrs.  P.  D.,  163 
Brownell,   Eleanor,  235 
Bryant,  W.  C,  85 
Buckley,  Dr.  James  M.,  177 
Buffalo  W.  C.  A.,  55,  159 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  101,  290 
Buenos  Aires,  Argentine,  307 
Buildings,   105-107,  151,  270, 

281,  282,  308 
"Bulletin,  The,"  205,  234 
"Bundle   of  Letters  to  Busy 

Girls,  A,"  214 
Burnham,  Mary,  120 
Business  Women's  Club,  283 
Busy  Girls'  Half  Hour,  104 
Buxton,  Mrs.  W.  S.,  219 


Cabot,  Dr.   Richard  C,  321 

Cafeteria,  84 

Calcutta,  India,  183,  304 

California,  238 

Calisthenics,      see      Physical 

Education 
Cambridge  Band,  144 
Cameron,  Minnie  (Mrs.  J.  V. 

Hartness),  120 
Campbell,  Mrs.  E.  M.,  228 
Campbell,  Helen,   105 
Camp  Collie,  171,   172,  295 
Camp  Nepahwin,  291 
Canada,  175,  183,  311 
Canton      ( English     Branch ) , 

305 
Camp  Fire  Girls,  299 


INDEX 


3S9 


Camps,  see  under  Conference 
Department  and  Sum- 
mer Homes 

Capitola,  246 

Carbondale,  Illinois,  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  of  the  S.  I.  N.  U., 
121 

Carleton  College,  Minnesota, 
59,  156 

Cascade,  246 

Cassiday,  Jennie,  79 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  129, 
132,  282 

"Century  Magazine,"  105 

Chappell,  Neva  A.,   105 

Charlotte,  N.  C,  238 

Charter  members,  225,  255 

Chauncey  Street,  Boston,  33 

Chautauqua,  96,  171,  202, 
296 

Chicago,   171-173,   196-199 

Chicago  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  102, 
160,  197 

China,  303,  306,  308 

Chinese  Indemnity  Students, 
see  Foreign  Students  in 
America 

Christian  Endeavor  Society, 
59,  132,  155 

Christian  Improvement  As- 
sociation, 17 

Christian  Women's  Educa- 
tion Union  of  Scotland, 
126 

"Christian  Worker,  The," 
204 

Chun,  Ying  Mei,  308 

Church,  see  Basis  of  Active 
Membership  and  Federal 
Council 

Church  of  the  Puritans,  22 

Cincinnati,  238 

Cincinnati  W.  C.  A.,  53,  56, 
95,  97,  159 

City  Associations  (after 
1906),   281-288 


Civil  War,  6,  91 

Cleveland  W.  C.  A.,  53,   64, 

56 
Close  Hall,  151 
Club  Organizations,  86,  87 
Coe  College,  Iowa,   129 
Coeducational    Colleges,    108- 

114,   124-133 
Coldwater,   Michigan,   Y.   W. 

C.  A.,  100 
College  Associations,  see  Stu- 
dent Y.  W.  C.  A/s 
Colored  Associations,  271,  239 
City,  285 
Conferences,  271 
Student,  271 
Commercial   Studies,   91 
Commissions 

Character   Standards,   265 
Domestic  Service,  76 
Restatement      of      Student 

Basis,  276-278 
Social  Morality,  265 
Thrift  and  Efficiency,  265 
Committee    on    Schools    and 

Colleges,  126,  170 
Communion     of     the     Lord's 

Supper,  314 
Cond6,  Bertha,  190,  235,  270 
Conference  Department 

Before    1906,    see   Summer 

Conferences 
Camps,  291,  296 
City,  288 
County,   295 
Student,  246 
Conferences   of    the    Interna- 
tional Board 
1891—196-198,  216 
1893—198-200 
1903—200 
1905—202,  223 
Conferences  of  the  W.  C.  A., 
159-166 
1871,  1873—125 
1875—169 


S90 


INDEX 


Conferences  of  the  W.  C.  A. 
— Continued. 

1877—169,  197 

1881—125,  167 

1883—128,   167 

1885—168-171,  216 

1887—170 
Confei*ences  of  the  W.  S.  C. 
F. 

1895,  Vadstena  Castle,  147 

1897,  Williamstown,    279 

1905,  Zeist,  148 

1913,  Lake    Mohonk,    278, 
279 

Conferences    of    the    World's 
Y.  W.  C.  A. 

1898,  London,  311-314 

1906,  Paris,  307 
1910,  Berlin,  260-263 

1914,  Stockholm,   314 
Constantinople    College,    327 
Constitution 

Boston,   32 

City,  23,  32 

International       Conference, 

162 
Student,  115,  127 
World's  Y.  W.   C.   A.,  313 
Y.  W.  C.  A.'8  of  U.  S.  of 

A.,  254-259 
See   also    Basis    of    Active 

Membership 
Conventions       of       National 

Association — later       The 

American    Committee 
1886—171-173 
1889—173 
1891—175 
1893—62 
1899—183,  188 
1901—188 
1903—189,    194 
1905—218 
1906,  special,  223 
Conventions,    State,    130-133, 

242-244 


Conventions,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  119, 

128,  256,  257 
Conventions  of  the  Y.  W.  C. 

A.'s  of  the  U.  S.  of  A. 
1906,  New  York  City,  225- 

227 
1909,   St.    Paul,   237,    254- 

259 
1911,  Indianapolis,  263 
1913,   Richmond,  264,   265, 

276 
1915,  Los  Angeles,  277 
Cooke,   Helen  Temple,   235 
Cooking  Classes,   see  Domes- 
tic Science 
Cooper,  Hon.  Peter,  94 
"Cooperative    patience,"    235, 

251 
Cornell   College,  Iowa,   128 
Corson,  Juliet,  96,  97,   165 
Country     Associations,     132, 

153-158,  292-296 
County     Organization,     156- 

158,  292-296 
Cratty,  Mabel,   193,  321 
Crete,  Nebraska,  121 
Crimean  War,  9 
Crosby,  Dr.  Howard,  256 
Cross,  Frances,  193 
Cunningham,  Miss,   120 
Cushman,  Mrs.  J.  S.,  227 
Cutler,  Ethel,  273 


Daeniker,  Maud,  228 

Dash  wood,  G.  L.,  165 

Davis,  Mrs.  John,  53,  159 

Day  Nursery  and  Kindergar- 
ten Society,  56 

Day  of  Prayer  for  Colleges, 
111 

Dayton,  Ohio,  W.  C.  A.,  55, 
104 

Decker,  Debbie,  121 

Delegation  to  Cincinnati,  168 


INDEX 


391 


Delaware,  238 
Delsarte,  99 
Democracy,  86,  288 
Denominational  Colleges,  108- 

114 
Department  of  Method,   252 
Depauw   University,   Indiana, 

129 
de  Perrot,  Mile.  Anna,  163 
Detroit  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  70,  291 
Dick,  Jean,  72 
Dick,  Nellie    (Adams),  72 
District  of  Columbia,  218,  239 
Doane     College,     Nebraska — 

Yoxmg  Ladies'  Society  of 

Co-workers,  121 
Dodge      County,      Minnesota, 

157 
Dodge,  Grace  H.,  87,  149,  165, 

192,    206-251,    262,    263; 

284,  319,  326-328 
Dodge,     William     Earl,     Jr., 

124 
Doheny,  Ella,  67 
Domestic  Art,  46,   93-95 
Domestic  Circle,  212 
Domestic  Economy,  46,  95 
Domestic  Science,  41,  46,  96- 

98 
Domestic  Service,  41—44,  75— 

76 
Dorcas  Societies,  5 
Dorman,   Mrs.    R.    A.    (Mary 

Aitken),  219,  227,  229 
Dow,  Caroline  B.,  250 
Downey,  Anna,   168 
Drinkwater,      Charlotte      V., 

37-47 
Drummond,  Professor  Henry, 

147,  165 
Dryer,  Emma,   176 
Duncan,  Mrs.  John  C.  (Fanny 

Cassiday),  204 
Dunn,    Helen     (Mrs.    L.    M. 

Gates),  58 
Dunn,  Mary  S.,  100,  177,  190 


Dunn,  Nettie  (Mrs.  Walter 
J.  Clark),  60,  174-176, 
318 

Durant,  Mrs.  Henry  F.,  32, 
45,  50 

Durkee,  Mrs.  F.  L.,  227 

Dyer,  Rev.  Heman,  24 


E 


"Earnest  Worker,  The,"   204 
Ecumenical    Missionary   Con- 
ference 
New  York,  1900,  148 
Edinburgh,  1910,  210 
Educational   Classes,   33,    36, 

87-98 
Eight  Week  Clubs,  294 
Elliott,  Arthur   J.,   235 
Elliott,  Harrison,  273 
Elliott,  J.  H.,  176 
Ellis  Island,  301 
El  Paso,  Illinois,  293 
Emergency  Lectures,  43 
Employed  Officers,  318 
Chaplain,  67 
County  secretary,  292 
Extension     secretary,     105, 

194 
Foreign  secretary,  63,  146 
Girls'  secretary,  297 
General  secretary,  317 
Lunchroom  director,  323 
Matron,  323 
National   secretary 
headquarters,  233 
field,  237 
Physical  director,  100,  322 
Religious     work     director, 

72,  270 
Secretary         of         colored 

branches,  272 
State     secretary,     133-137 
Student  secretary,  152 
Superintendent,   16 


892 


INDEX 


Employed  Officers — Continued. 
Traveling    secretary,     133- 

137    318 
World's  Secretary,  182,  193 
Employed     Officers'     Confer- 
ence 
1909—319 
1911—320 
1913—321 
1915—321 

See  also   Secretaries*   Con- 
ferences, 1889,  292,  318 
Employment  Bureau,  41,  73- 

76 
Eureka,  Illinois,  292 
"Evangel,     The,"     135,     189, 

234,  303 
Evangelical  Alliance,  112 
Evangelical  Basis 

See  Basis  of  Active  Mem- 
bership, Commission  on 
Restatement  of  Student 
Basis,  Constitutions, 

Federal        Council        of 
Churches 
Evangelical     Churches,     222, 

255-259,  273 
Evangelistic  Campaigns,   130, 

141,  270,  287 
Ewing,  Mrs.  Emma  P.,  46 
Exeter  Hall,  102,  312 
Expositions  in  U.  S.  A. 
1876—95 

1893—189,   198,   199 
1901—200 
1904r— 200,  201,  203 
1905—200 
1915—266-268 
abroad,  1851—92 
abroad,  1900—200 


"Faith  and  Works,"  204 
Farmington,  206 


Farwell,  Mrs.   John  V.,  Jr., 
173 

Federal  Council  of  Churches, 
257-259 

Federation  of  Clubs,  291 

Female  Cent  Societies,  6 

Field,  Frances,  224,  235,  236 

Field       Work       Department, 
236-241 

Fifty-second     Street,     N.     Y. 
City,  266 

Fillmore      Coimty,       Minne- 
sota, 156,  157 

Finance,  85,  242-245,  282 
After    1906,    see    also    Fi- 
nance Department 

Finance     Department,      241- 
246 

Finland,   311 

Finney,    Rev.   Charles   G.,   5, 
7 

First  Aid  to  the  Injured,  43, 
284 

Fisher,   Martha  S.    (Mrs.   E. 
E.  Stacy),  57 

Foochow    (English    Branch), 
305 
Methodist        School       and 
Seminary,    305 

Ford,  Mabelle,  263 

Foreign      Department,      252, 
309 

Foreign    Students    in    Amer- 
ica, 279,  309,  310 

Foreign  Work,   183-189 

After     1906,     see     Foreign 
Department 

Forman,  John  N.,  145 

Foster,  Mary,  33,  317 

France,  311 

French,  Daniel  Chester,  278 

French,    Mrs.    John     (Mary 
Billings),  329 

Fries,  Dr.  Karl,  148 


INDEX 


999 


Gage,  Frances  C,  308 
Galesburg,  Illinois,   129 
Gates,    Mrs.    L.    M.     (Helen 

Dunn),  58,  240 
Germantown,  Pa.,  W.  C.  A., 

55,  95,  104 
Girl's  Department,  87,  297 
Girls'  Friendly  Society,  19 
Girls'  Public  School  Athletic 

League,  210 
Gladding,    Mrs.    Thomas    S. 

(Effie    K.     Price),    219, 

226 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  20 
"Gleaner,  The,"  204 
Gordon,  Mrs.  A.  D.,  191 
Gospel  Meeting,  68 
Gould,    Helen    Miller     (Mrs. 

Finley  J.  Shepard),  219, 

227,  295 
Grace,  Mayor,  208 
Grace  Whitney  Hoff  League, 

291 
Gramercy    Park,     250,     266, 

324 
Gray,  Rev.  James  M.,  46 
Great  Britain,  21,  182,  311 
Green,  Mrs.  Henry,  227 
Greencastle,      Indiana,      129, 

132 
Greenville      and      Tusculum 

College,    Tennessee,    129 
Gregg,  Lucinda,  47 
Griffith,  Mrs.  J.  S.,  219 
Grinnell,  Iowa,  129 
Guinness,     Geraldine      (Mrs. 

Howard  Taylor),  304 
Guinness,  Lucy,  145 
Gymnasium,      see      Physical 

Education 


Hall,  Thirsa  F.,  174 
Hammond,  E.  P.,  115 


Hang  Chow,  China,  303 
Hanover     College,     Indiana, 

124 
"Harland,  Marion,"  see  Ter- 

hune 
Harlem  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  70 
"Harriet  Judson,  The,"  283 
Harrison,    President     Benja- 
min,  149 
Hartford,  Conn.,  37,  50,  125, 

159,  160 
Haskell  Institute,  273 
Havergal,     Frances     Ridley, 

11,  163 
Hawaii,  239 
Hays,  Emma,  190,  219 
Hearst,  Mrs.  Phoebe,  243-247 
Hendrix,  Bishop  E.  E.,  258 
Henrotin,  Mrs.  Charles,  198 
Hermosa  Club,  284 
Hill,    Agnes    Gale,    62,    185^ 

187,   304 
Hill,  Mary  B.,  186,  187 
Hillsdale    College,    Michigan, 

58,  128 
Hitchcock    &    Rogers,    7,    8, 

316 
Hoflf,      Mrs.      John      Jacob 

(Grace  Whitney  Evans), 

310 
Holland,  J.  G.,  85 
Holmes,  O.  W.,  85 
Hong         Kong  (English 

Branch),   305 
Hooker,  Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher, 

51 
Hoopskirt  Factory,  24,  103 
Hopkinton,  Iowa,  121 
Hospital,  34 

Household  Arts,  see  Domes- 
tic Economy 
Howard,  General  O.  0.,  256 
Hunt,    Rosamund    (Gordon), 

120 
Hunter,  Ethel   (Mrs.  Charles 

dej.  Luxmoore),  304 


394< 


INDEX 


Himton,  Mrs.  W.  A.    (Addie 

Waite),  271 
Hunting,  Bernice,  72 
Huntington,  Emily,   46,   207 
Hymn  of  the  Lights,  264 


Iowa     A^icultural     College, 

95 
Iowa  College    (later  Grinnell 

College),    129 
Iowa  Wesleyan  College,  128 
Irene  Club,  211-213 


Illinois,  72,  132 

Illinois  Industrial  Univer- 
sity— later  University  of 
Illinois,  96 

Illinois  State  Normal  Uni- 
versity, 114-119,  also  8ee 
Normal 

Illinois  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity, 128 

Immigrants,    300-302 

India,  183-188,  303,  304,  308 

Indian  Associations,  272 

Indiana,  132 

Indianapolis,  263 

Industrial  Education  Associ- 
ation,  207 

Industrial  Extension,  24,  103- 
105,  289-291 

Institute,  17,  194,  195,  248 
See  also  Secretarial  Train- 
ing 

"Intercollegian,  The,"  276 

Intercollegiate  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
122-124 

Intercollegiate  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
119,   134,   147 

International  Board,  196- 
205 

International  Committee  of 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.— later 
The  American  Commit- 
tee, 173-183 

International   Institute,   301 

"International  Messenger, 
The,"    204,    234 

Invitation  Committee,  69 

Iowa,  132,  154,  155 


Japan,  303,  306,  308 
Jenkinson,  Mrs.  R.  C,  227 
Johnson    Coimty,    Iowa,    153, 

154 
Joint    Committee,   The,    223- 

227 
Judson,  Mrs.  C.  N.,  219,  227 


Kalamazoo,  Michigan,  Y.  W. 

C.  A.,  58,   155,   105 
Kalamazoo  College,  Michigan, 

128 
Kansas,  72,   133,   155,  244 
Kansas      Agricultural      Col- 
lege, 95 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  280 
Kansas  City  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  62, 

84,  102 
Kawai,  Michi,  262,  306,  322 
Kingsmill,  Agnes,   250 
Kinnaird,    The    Hon.    Arthur 

(later  Lord  K.),  15-17 
Lord  (son  of  founder),  165 
The   Hon.   Emily,    15,    165, 

183-184 
The    Hon.    Gertrude,     165, 

183 
Mary  Jane    (Lady),   15-20 
Kirkland  School,  84 
Kitchen    Garden    Association, 

207 
Knight,  Naomi    (Mrs.   O.  M. 

Easterday),      135,      188, 

172 
KjQOW  Your  City  Week,  286 


INDEX 


395 


Knowles,  Mary  (Mrs.  Walter 

Lindsay),  80 
Knox  College,  Illinois,   129 
Knox,    Nellie     (Mrs.     F.     E. 

Miller),   133 
Kyle   Margaret    (Mrs.    E.    E. 

Barber),  190 


Ladies'  Christian  Association, 

see  New  York 
Ladies'  Christian  Union,  see 

New  York 
Ladies'    Prayer    Meeting,    22, 

90,  66 
Lake  Geneva,  171,  178,  246 
Lake  Mohonk,  278,  279 
Lamson,  Mrs,  Edwin,  30,  38, 

126,   160 
Lahore,  India,  189 
Lancaster,    Mass.,    Industrial 

School,  38 
Lancaster,    Penn.,    Y.    W.    C. 

A.,  283 
Larcom,  Lucy,  4,  5 
Larkin  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  290 
Lasell    Seminary,   Mass.,   96 
Lawrence,  Kas.,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 

58 
Lawrence,    Mass.,    Y.    W.    C. 

A.,  301 
Lawrence     University,      122, 

129 
Lenox  College,  Iowa,   121 
LeSeur,  Pastor,  262 
Lewis,  Dr.  Dio,  99 
Lewis,    Flora    (Gallup),    120 
Lexington  Avenue,  N.  Y.,  266 
Library,  87-89 
Lincoln,   Mrs.    D.    A.    (Mary 

J.  Bailey),  46,  96 
Lindsey,  Walter,  80 
Literary    Societies,     113-114, 

139 


Little  Girls'  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, 297 
Liverpool,  England,   20 
London,  7-21,  30,   101,  160 
Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  34 
Los  Angeles,  238,  283,  301 
Louise  Cecile  School,  204 
Louisville,  Ky.,  W.  C.  A.,  79 
Intercollegiate  Y.  M.  C.  A,, 

124 
Conference   on   Colored   As- 
sociations, 239 
Low,  Hon.  Seth,  214 
Lowell,  Maria  White,  5 
Lowell,  Mass.,  4,  159 
Lowell,  Mass.,  Y.   W.  C.  A., 

224 
Lucknow  College,  148 
Lyon,  Mary,  5 

MAC 

MacDonald,  A.  Caroline,  306 
Macbougal,   Evelyn,   176 

MC 

McAfee,  Rev.  Cleland  B.,  226 
McAlpin,  Mrs.  D.  H.,  85 
McCoUins,  Mrs.,  164 
McConaughy,       David,      181, 

186,  187 
McConaughy,      Mrs.      David, 

187,  228 

McCook,    Janet     (Mrs.    Mal- 
colm D.   Whitman),  227, 
246,  328 
McCormick,    Mrs.    Cyrus   H., 

Sr.,  195 
McCrea,  Mrs.   F.  F.,  240 
McDougal,  Mrs.  John,  125 
McKenzie,    Elizabeth,    292 

M 

Madras,  India,  184-186 
Manchester,  England,  20 


396 


INDEX 


Manhattan    Conference,   The, 

219-223 
Mansion  House,  London,  313 
"Margaret    Louisa,   The,"    82 
Mary  Clark  Memorial  Home, 

The,  283 
Maryland,  238 
Mayhew,   Abby    S.,    61,    100, 

309,  322 
Members'   Council,  283 
Membership,  64,   138,  265 
Merom      Christian      College, 

Indiana,  128 
Messer,  L.  Wilbur,  71,  325 
Messer,  Mrs.  L.  Wilbur,  228, 

229,  325 
Metropolitan     Organizations, 

271,  282 
Michigan,  72,  132,  155 
Mildmay,  9 
Miller,  H.  Thane,  64,  55,  125, 

160 
Miller,  Mrs.  H.  Thane    (Em- 
ma P.  Smith),  119,  125- 

129,  167 
Mills  College,  246 
Mill  Villages,  290 
Milwaukee  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  104, 

105,  282 
Minneapolis  W.  C.  A.,  58-60 
Y.    W.    C.   A.,   58-61,    105, 

282 
Minnesota,  133,  157 
Minonk,  Illinois,  293 
Mission     Board     Representa- 
tives, 276 
Missionary  Meetings,  71 
Missionary  Societies,  6 
Missouri,  236,  238 
Monaghan  Mills  Y.  W.  C.  A., 

290 
Montclair,  The,  234 
Monteagle,  203 
Montgomery,  Ala.,  Y.  W.  C. 

A.,  101 


Montreal,    Canada,    31,    126, 

163 
Moody,  D.  L.,  51,  52,  143,  191 
Moor,  Lucy  M.,   12 
Morning  Watch,  140,  178,  305 
Morrison,    Theresa,    306 
Morse,    Rebecca    F.,    72,    87, 

181,  188,  189 
Morse,  Richard  C,  85,  225 
Mosher,  Dr.  Eliza,  98 
Mott,  John  R.,  71,  143,  145, 

147,  226,  272 
Mott,  Mrs.  John  R.,  228 
Mottoes 
Associates,  331 
International   Board,   332 
National  Committee  of   Y. 

W.  C.  A.'8,  331 
Prayer  Union,  330 
World's,   331 

Y.  W.  C.   A.  of  U.  S.  A., 
332 
Mt.  Auburn  Institute,  125 
Mt.   Hermon,    142-145,    191 
Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  5 
Muller,   daughter    of   George 

M.,  11 
Mullens,  Priscilla,  300 


N 


Nagasaki,  Japan,  303 

Naperville,  Illinois,  120 

Narey,  Hope,  100 

National  Association,  later 
The  American  Commit- 
tee,   142,    171-173 

National  Board,  226-259,  277 

National  Cash  Register  fac- 
tory, 104 

National  Headquarters,  266, 
282 

National  Training  School, 
249,  250,  323-325 


INDEX 


S97 


National  Vigilance  Commit- 
tee, later  American  So- 
cial Hygiene  Associa- 
tion, 215 

Nebraska,  122,  133 

Negro  Student  Conference, 
see  Colored  Associations 

Nevada,  238 

Newark,  N.  J.,  W.  C.  A.,  55, 
224 

Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  Y.  W.  C. 
A.,  100,  107 

Newell,  Alice  (Mrs.  Lloyd 
Davis),    189 

New  England  Pastors,  34 

New  England  States,  236 

New  Haven  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  90, 
97 

New  Jersey,  236 

New  York  City,  238 

New  York  City  Board  of  Ed- 
ucation, 208 

New      York      City,      Ladies' 
Christian        Association, 
23-25,  103 
Ladies'     Christian     Union, 

25,  50 
Young       Ladies'       Branch 
(later  Y.  W.  C.  A.),  55, 
67,   74,   85,   91,   92,    100, 
105 

New  York  Cooking  School,  96 

Nightingale,  Florence,  14, 
327 

New  York  State,  236 

Noon  Rest,  83 

Normal,  Illinois,  114-119, 
124 

Normal  Schools,  108 

"North  American  Student, 
The,"  276 

North  American  Student 
Council,  276 

North  Carolina,  238 


Normal  University,  see  Illi- 
nois State  Normal  Uni- 
versity 
Northfield     Conference,     191, 

246 
North  London  Home,  16,  65 
Northwestern     College,     Illi- 
nois,  Y.   L.   C.   A.,    120, 
168 
Norway,  21,  182,  311 
Nurses'  Central  Club,  270 


Oakland,    California,    Y.    W. 

C.  A.,  297 
Ober,  C.  K.,  71 
Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  5 
Occupations,  35,  75,  91 
Office  Department,  234 
Ogontz  School,  84,  208 
Ohio,  132,  155,  236,  238 
Olivet  College,  Michigan,   Y. 

W.  C.  A.,  120 
Omaha  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  70 
Onondaga  Indian  Club,  283 
Orlebar,  Maude,  304 
Orrock,  Rev.  J.  M.,  47 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  129 
Otis,  Dr.  Edward  O.,  43 
Otterbein    University,    Ohio, 

128,  151 
Oxford  Movement,  7 


Pacific  Grove,  247 

Paddock,  A.  Estella,  193,  306 

Pageant,   Ministering   of   the 

Gift,  264 
Palmer,  Mrs.  Potter,  198 
Panama  Pacific  International 

Exposition,  266 
Parker,  Thomas  F.,  290 
Parloa,  Maria,  42,  96 


898 


INDEX 


Paris,  France, 

British   American   Associa- 
tion, 310 
Student  Hostel,  308,  310 
World's  Conference,  307 

Parsons  College,  Iowa,  128 

Patriotic  Fund,  9 

Paxson,  Ruth,  190 

Pearl    Street    Church,    Hart- 
ford, 60,  159 

Penn  College,   Iowa,   129 

Pennefather,  Catherine   (Mr&. 
William),  9-12,  20,  163 

Pennefather,  William,  9 

Pennsylvania,  238,  244 

Pentecost,  Dr.  George  F.,  183 

Peoria,  Illinois,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
292 

Personal  Evangelism,  136, 
141 

Personal  Work,  136,  141 

Philadelphia,   238 

Philadelphian  Society,  Prince- 
ton, 124 

Philadelphia,    W.    C.    A.,    55, 
74,  78,  82,  91,  100,  159 

Philistines,  239 

Phillips,  Ann  Greene,  5 

Phillips,  Philip,  51 

Phillips,  T.  W.,  175 

Physical  Director,  44 

Physical   Education,    43,   98- 
101,   308 

Pitkin,  Horace  Tracy,  145 

Pittsburgh,  W.   C.   A.,  52 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,   105 

Pleasant      Valley,      Johnson 
County,  Iowa,  153,  154 

Policies    of    National    Board, 
234-259 

Portland  Definition,  256,  257 

Poughkeepsie  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  83, 
97,  100,  297 

Prayer  for  Times  of  Retreat, 
279 


Prayer      Meetings — see      re- 
ligious   meetings 
Prayer  Union,  10,   19,  20 
Preston,   Minn.,    156,    157 
Price,      Effie      Kelly      (Mrs. 
Thomas     S.     Gladding), 
189,  191 
Price,  Prof.  Ira  M.,  250 
Princeton    University,    Phila- 
delphian Society,  124 
Y.  M.   C.  A.,    124 
"The    Student    Christian,'* 
278 
Protective  Agents,  287 
Providence,  R.  I.,  W.  C.  A., 

51,  79,   159 
Publication   Department,   234 
Purpose  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s,  198, 
255,  285 


Quarterly— see  Y.    W.   C.   A. 

Quarterly 


R 


Rainwater,  Mrs.  C.  C,  240 
Rawson,  Mrs.  C.  A.,  240 
Red  Cross   Society,  284 
Reed,   Clara   S.,  235 
Reid,  Katharine,  250 
Religious    Meetings,    34,    66- 

70,   140,  286 
Religious  Work,  47 
Residence,     the     Association, 

283 
Restaurant,  36,  80-84 
Revival    of    1857-58,    6,    22, 

123 
Rew,  Mrs.  Irwin    (Katherine 

S.   Jones),    194,   228 
Reynolds,  Annie  M.,  182,  188, 

193,  228,  238,  246,  306 
Reynolds,  James  Bronson,  147, 

183,  214 


INDEX 


399 


Rice,  Anna  V.,  322 

Richards,  Belle  (Bunker), 
72 

Richards,  Mrs.  Ellen  H.,  45 

Richardson,  Mrs.  J.  B.,  227 

Riverdale,  206,  278 

Roanoke,  Illinois,  293 

Robarts,  Emma,  9-12,  19,  330 

Roberts,  Mrs.  Marshall  O., 
22-25,   50,   328 

Rochester  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  282, 
286 

Rome,  Italy,  163,  164 

Rooms  for  Student  Associa- 
tions, 151 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  249 

Ross,  Dr.  A.  Johnston,  315 

Rossiter,  Mrs.  W.  W.,  227 

Rouse,  Ruth,  149,  188,  216 

Russia,  311 


Salt  Lake  City,  163 
Sanders,  Frank  K.,  180 
Sanford,  Rev.  E.  B.,  225 
Sanford,      Mary      F.      (Mrs. 

William      G.      Morison), 

235 
San  Francisco   Y.  W.   C.   A., 

102 
Sangster,   Mrs.   Margaret  E., 

177,  227 
Saunders,  Una,  321 
Schell,  Ida,   133,   168,   172 
Schofield,  Mrs.  Levi  T.,  240 
Schooley,   Ella,   266 
Scranton,  Pa.,   Y.   W.   C.  A., 

58,  60,   100,  104 
Seaside,  246 
Secretarial  Department,  248- 

251 
Secretarial  Training,  47,  193- 

195 
After     1906 — see    National 

Training  School 


Secretarial  Training — Contin- 
ued. 
Secretarial  Department 
Summer  School 
Training   Centers 

Self  Governing  Clubs,  87, 
210-214,  284 

Self  Government 
Conferences,  275 
Residences,  283 

Sewing  Classes — see  Domes- 
tic  Art 

Sewing  Machines,  6,  77,  93- 
95 

Shaftesbury,  Seventh  Earl  of, 
14,  18,  20,  101 

Shanghai,       China  —  Chinese 
Association,      188,      306, 
308 
English  Branch,  305 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Elliott  F.,  82 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Finley  J. 
(Helen  Miller  Gould), 
296 

Sheppard,  Lizzie,  121 

Sherman,  Jennie,  72,  133 

Silver  Bay,  192,  246 

Silver,    Emma,    72 

Simms,  Florence,   190 

Singh,    Lilavati,    148 

Slocum,  Mrs.  William  F.,  228 

Smith,   Alice,   227 

Smith,  Mrs.  Charles  B.,  50 

Smith,  Mrs.  Hannah  Whitall, 
161 

Smith,   Mary   Isabel,    105 

Social  Features,  84-86,  139 

Social  Service,  150,  273 

South  Africa,  311 

South  America,  307,  308 

South  Bend,  Indiana,  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  282 

South  Carolina,  238 

South  Church,  New  York 
City,  225 


400 


INDEX 


Speer,   Robert   E.,    145,   226, 

235 
Speer,  Mrs.   Robert   E.,   219, 

227,  235,  329 
Spencer,  Clarissa  H.,  145,  193 
Springer,  Mrs.  C.  R.,  196 
Springfield,  Mass.,  W.  C.  A., 

65,  95 
Starkweather,   Ella,   120 
State   Associations,    130-133, 

168,   170 
State  Executive   Committees, 

130-133,  236-241 
State     Student     Conferences 

( co-educational ) ,       130- 

133 
State   Universities,   108,  also 

under   separate  names 
Statistics— 1909,  253 

Alumnse  social  service,  274 
Boston  residents,  35 
Eight  Week  Clubs,  295 
Industrial,  289 
St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  57 
Student  bodies,  269 
Steiner,  Edward  A.,  301 
Stelzle,  Rev.  Charles,  226 
Stenographers'       Association, 

283 
Stewart,  Emma  V.    (Mrs.  I. 

E.  Brown),  116 
Stewart,  Mary  B.,  240 
Stewart,    Mrs.     William    S., 

202,  219 
Stiles  Hall,  151 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 

57 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  125,  238 
St.  Louis   W.  C.  A.,   54,  56, 

76,  85,  95,  97,  102 
Stockholm,  Sweden,  314 
Stokes,  James,  186-187 
Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  5 
Strangford,  Viscountess,  15 
St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  133,  254 
Studd,  J.  E.  K.,  145 


Student  Initiative,  274-276 

"Student  Volunteer,  The," 
146,  276 

Student  Volunteer  Movement, 
142-146,  185,  276,  280 

Studio  Club,  271,  299 

Student  Y.  W.  C.  A.'s,  108- 
152 

Students'  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 122,  123 

Students'  Handbook,  140 

Sullivan,  Captain  Thomas, 
30 

Summer  Conferences,  147, 
175-180,  190-193.  After 
1906  see  Conference  De- 
partment 

Summer  Homes,  78-80,  283, 
287 

Summer  School,  322-323 

Sutcliffe,  Charlotte,  250 

Sweden,  21,  182,  311 

Swift,  John  T.,  181 

Swimming,  101 

Switzerland,  311 

Syracuse,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  283 


Taft,  President,  284 

Tarlton,  J.  H.,  316 

Tarr,  Corabel  (Mrs.  William 
Boyd),  174,  181,  189 

Taylor,  Harriet,  190,  247 

Teachers'  College,  208 

Terhune,  Mrs.  E.  P.  ("Mar- 
ion Harland"),  74,  164, 
177 

Territorial  Committees — gee 
Field   Work   Department 

Terry,  Prof.  M.  S.,  176 

"Three  P.  Circle,"  212 

Thurston,  Mrs.  Frank  T.,  219, 
226 

Tokyo,  Japan,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
308 


INDEX 


401 


Toledo,  Ohio,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  62 
Topeka,  Kansas,  129 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  68 
Topics,    116,    130,    159,    161, 

220,  319 
Tractarian   pamphlets,   7 
Trained  Attendants,  98 
Training     School.    See     Na- 
tional Training  School 
for    Domestic    Service,    44, 

95 
Training     Centers,     249-251, 

324 
Travelers'   Aid,   44,    101-103, 

200-202,  215,  267 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  Y.  W.  C.  A., 

301 
Tritton,  Mrs.  J.  Herbert,  21 
Trumbull,  H.  Clay,  51 
Tsuda,  Um6,  306 
Tufts,  Mrs.  J.  J.,  219 
Tung  Cho,  China,  180,  303 
Turkey,  303,  308 
Twenty-seventh    Street,    New 

York  City,  266 

U 

Uhler,  Mrs.  M.  C,  318 
Union      Internationale      des 
Amies  de  la  Jeune  Fille, 
163 
Union   of   Previous  National 

Bodies,  220-223 
United  Association,  18 
United   Central   Council,   21 
United  States,   21,    182 
University  of  California,  151, 
247 
Illinois,  129,  146,  186,  270, 

293 
Iowa,  151,  164 
Kansas,   273,   293 
Michigan  S.  C.  A.,  123 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  293 
Minnesota,  152,  270 


Universities — Continued. 

Nebraska,  129 

Nevada,  247 

Virginia  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  123 

Wisconsin,  129,   152 
Urbana,  Illinois,  96 
Utica  W.  C.  A.,  65 


Vacation  Lodge-^«ec  Sum- 
mer Homes 

Vadstena  Castle,  147 

Van  Vliet,  Bertha,  297 

Vesper  Tea,  70 

Victoria,  Queen,  312,  314 

Vincent,  Mrs.  B.  T.,  227 

Virginia,   238 

Voluntary  Christian  Educa- 
tion, 273 

Volunteer  Workers,  318 

W 

Washburn,  Illinois,  293 
Washburn    College,    Kansas, 

129 
Washington,  D.  C,  W.  C.  A., 

55,    159,   217,   222 
Washington,  D.  C,  Y.  W.  C. 

A.,  217,  222,  283 
Webb,  Mrs.,  42 
Week  of  Prayer,  242,  313 
Weidensall,  Robert,  124,  156, 

157 
Welles,  Anna  (Mrs.  J.  Wylie 

Brown),  308 
Wellesley  College,  44,  46 
Wells,  Mrs.  Shepard,  78 
Western  Secretarial  Institute, 

171,  178 
Westerville,  Ohio,  128,  132 
West  Point,  278 
West  Virginia,  238 
Whirlwind  Campaign,  282 
White  Slave  Treaty,  215 


402 


INDEX 


Whitewater,  Wisconsin,   132 
Whitman,    Mrs.    Malcom    D. 

(Janet  McCook),  328 
Whittelsey,  Mrs.  J.  T.,  219 
Wilder,  Grace,  143 
Wilder,  Robert  P.,  143 
Williams,    Sir    George,    7,    8, 

312,  316 
Wilson,  Mrs.  A.  McD.,  228 
Wilson,  Annis,  122 
Wilson,   Elizabeth,    174,    189, 

195,  219,  235 
Wilson,       Jessie       Woodrow 

(Mrs.  Francis  B.  Sayre), 

294 
Wilson      Industrial      School, 

207 
Wisconsin,  132 
Wishard,  Luther  D.,  119,  124- 

129,  147,  180 
Wishard,    Mrs.    L.    D.     (Eva 

Fancher),   180,  303 
Witbeck,    Ida    (Mrs.    Charles 

DeGarmo),  116 
Wolflf,  Maude,   105 
Wood,  Anna,  44 
Woodford     County,     Illinois, 

290 
Wooster      University,      Ohio, 

129 
Woman's     Medical      College, 

151 
Woman's    Municipal    League, 

The,  214 
Woman's  Work,  3-6 
Women's    Christian    Associa- 
tion,  125-126 
Women's  Colleges,  126,  138 
Women's  Exchange,  56 
Women's     Missionary     Socie- 
ties, 6,  121 


Worcester,  Mass.,  237 
Worcester  Y.   W.    C.   A.,  97, 

100,  101 
Workers'  Training  Class,  71, 

141 
World's  Badge,  313 
''World's  Nickel,"  242 
World's     Student     Christian 

Federation,  147-150,  277, 

310 
World's  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  21,  181- 

183,  277 


X-Y 

Yokohama,  Japan,  306 

York,  Pa.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  89 

Young  Ladies'  Christian  As- 
sociation, 9,  115,  125,  150 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, 8,  22,  30,  50,  52, 
63,  58,  99,  101,  115,  121, 
122,  123,  124,  134,  147, 
153,  157,  173,  213,  221, 
255,  273,  312,  et  passim 

Youngstown,  Ohio,  Y.  W.  C. 
A.,  282 

Young     Women's     Christian 
Association 
(use  of  name),  11,  16,  18 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Quarterly,  135, 
189,  229 

Ypsilanti,  Michigan,  Y.  W. 
C.   A.,  58 


Zirkus,   Busch,  261 
Zone  Club  House,  267 


l^^^^     ^illCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

TO—i»      2Q2  Main  Uhrarv 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
4        University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 

—  Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

AU(        ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
__  (510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 

—  books  to  NRLF 

t  •  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made 

4  days  prior  to  due  date 

_i 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


FEB  0  6  2007 


FOI 


DD20  12M   1-05 


/Kfi^C 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRAF 


CDDMllQESM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


